


Silent in the Trees

by Kyl0R3n



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Accidental Knotting, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Come as Lube, Explicit Sexual Content, Hand Jobs, Knotting, M/M, Masturbation, Mildly Dubious Consent, Monster sex, Murder, Murder Mystery, Oral Sex, Rimming, Two werewolves do it at some point, Werewolf!Kylo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-18
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2018-07-15 18:08:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 33,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7233163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyl0R3n/pseuds/Kyl0R3n
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hux has inherited one of his late father's estates, way out in the country. He's going through all of the organizing, contemplating what the hell to do with all of the mess, contemplating if he even WANTS the estate...<br/>It's hard enough as it is, without a lonely and very childish werewolf venturing out of the nearby woods, his backstory a mystery to be solved.<br/>A story of love, murder, werewolves, and ANGST.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Estate

He coughed as dust spores littered the room, dancing in the stuffy air lightened by the sunlight filtering in through the windows. Hux finished shaking out the old bed sheet that had covered the old, moth eaten couch in front of him. He sighed, running a hand through his hair as he looked around the old living room. With his father's recent passing, he had inherited this estate. This enormous, prestigious estate. One of four that Brendol Hux Sr. had acquired in his life.

 

It had been vacant for years, and it showed in the dust covered floors, furniture, and surfaces, the tattered paintings and portraits that scattered the walls, and the stagnant, musty smell. Hux had spent the past week going through old pictures and papers, contemplating possible renovations, and trying to come to a consensus over what to actually do with the property.

 

It had been paid off long ago, he even remembered it being on the market at one point, but it never sold. The area was rich in urban legends and folklore, but surely people didn't buy into that sort of thing? Especially when an opportunity to own a place such as this arose.

 

The ginger stretched, the dust in the air making his head feel heavy. He cleared his throat, feeling around in his pocket for his cigarettes, stepping out of the overly ornate back doors and onto the back porch. The cicadas screeched in the distant trees, the air was humid and muggy, even at dusk. He lit a cigarette and took a long drag from it, leaning over the bannister and eyeing the patch of land between him and the thickly grown woods. It was slightly overgrown after he had sent the gardeners and landscapers away with him taking over charge of the estate, but now he realized just how big the plot of land really was. He took out a small notebook and pencil from his pocket and flipped through his ever expanding to-do list. "Re-hire lawn service?", he added. Hux's eyes grazed over the other items on the list, nearly groaning at how much there still was to do.

 

He took another drag. Losing a family member was hard enough as it was, despite the fact that he and his father had been distant later in life, but cleaning up afterwards and dealing with legalities was an entirely different monster itself. Something shifted in the trees and Hux held still for a moment before closing the notebook and pocketing it again. He watched the sun set as he finished his cigarette, not looking forward to returing to the dusty living room. Perhaps he would call it an early night. There was a guestroom adjacent to the private master wing he had been sleeping in. It was the only place to lay his head where he had cleared out any cobwebs and scrubbed out any mold patches. He made sure the doors in the front and back were locked, though he didn't expect any visitors with how remote this estate was, and ascended the squeaking, wooden steps to the upstairs. Hux switched on an old, antique lamp in his room and went to his suitcase he had situated on the side of the bed. It was all he had brought with him from his London flat. With any luck, he thought as he pulled off his shirt, he could sell this house or find renters and return to England soon.

 

He dressed down to his boxer briefs, turned off the lamp, and pulled the old comforter back, inspecting for spiders, something he had learned to do after an unfortunate disturbance his second night here. When he was sure it was clear, he stretched, trying to get comfortable, keeping only the bedsheet on him. He found sleep quickly as soon as his head hit the pillow, the stress over what still had to be done wearing him out.

 

Hux had easily adapted to the noises in the house. It creaked and groaned, settled and squeaked, but the noise that tore him from his sleep didn't come from the house...

 

A strange, howling snarl came from outside. He shot up in bed, realizing it wasn't from a dream when it happened again. The noise sounded pained, like a hurt animal. Hux swallowed heavily, contemplating what to do. He carefully stood up, pulling on a pair of sweats he retrieved from his bag, keeping the lights off so he could spy out of the dirty window without being discovered. It was easy to see, despite the condition of the window. Out in the overgrowing grass, there was a... creature. That was the only word Hux could think of to describe it. Some manner of half man, half beast. Hux rubbed his eyes as he saw it lumber around, surely he was hallucinating or... or still dreaming.

 

Brushing his hair out of his eyes, he went to the closet, where he had stashed one of his late father's old hunting rifles in the midst of his cleaning. Hux made sure it was loaded and went back to the window. The thing was laying on the grass, unmoving. He wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand and watched it for a few moments longer, making sure it remained lifeless. Carefully, he turned and made his way downstairs, stopping at the the back door. He held the rifle close, a trembling finger close to the trigger as he slowly unlocked the door and cracked it open, peeking out.

 

"...you there! ...whatever you are... I'll have you know I'm armed!" Hux cursed himself silently over how feeble his voice sounded. "This is a private estate! You're not welcome here! So leave this inst-" he jumped, closing the door as the large figure stirred.

 

The creature raised itself up on hands and knees, its breathing labored. Hux watched from one of the tall windows next to the door, gripping his rifle tightly. He felt his heart race as the beast crawled onto the back porch and he got a better view of it.

 

Its glowing, amber eyes were almost hidden behind a mane of long, shaggy black hair. His skin was a mottled grey, limbs long, and hands and feet clawed and dangerous like an animal. Tufts of thick, black fur sprouted from his elbows, and down his spine, which extended into what look like a thick tail. When the beast spoke, his voice was weak.

 

"...I'm-... injured... I mean you no harm.."

 

Hux noticed a horrible looking gash on the beast's side, which was oozing blood, collecting in a small pool on the porch. After a moment of consideration, he slowly opened the door a bit again, keeping his voice even.

 

"I'll-... I'll throw you some medical supplies... That's all I can do..." He closed the door again and hurried to the kitchen, rummaging through cupboards one handed with the gun still in the other. All he managed to find was an old, most likely outdated, first aid kit. It was good enough.

 

Hux turned the corner back into the living room and nearly lost his footing in shock. In his hurry to send the monster off, he had forgotten to lock the back door. The beast sat on the sofa he had unearthed earlier, looking at him with those hungry eyes.

 

Hux held his breath, finger finding the trigger again, but the creature simply held out a clawed hand from his hunched position. It took the ginger a moment to realize what he was asking for, his brain still foggy with the concept of this horrible thing sitting on the furniture in this living room he had played in as a boy, as if this was perfectly normal. The cushions he used to hide his toy soldier figures under so many years ago were now being gently shredded by the monster's resting claws. Hux felt a strange sense of sentiment and he hurried foward, pressing the first aid kit into the outstretched hand, feeling a bit braver with his irritation.

 

 

"Here. Now leave, that's all I have." he looked up at the beast, defiance in his eyes.

 

The creature almost huffed before jumping down from the couch and leaving through the open door. Hux followed and closed the door, making sure to lock it this time. He turned, resting his back against it and slowly sliding down to the floor, rifle still clasped tightly in his hands as he let out a breath he didn't even realize he had been holding.

 

What had just happened? Surely, he argued with himself, it could have gone much worse than it did. Much worse than having a lumbering half man sitting in his house like some expected guest. He might as well have served it tea...

 

Hux yawned, watching the dusty living room lighten with the approaching dawn. He stood, placing the rifle carefully by the front door, should he need it again before walking back up the rickety steps and to his bedroom. With any luck, he might sleep for a couple more hours after the strange events of the early morning...

 

He pulled off his sweat pants, his body already aching and tired, but he stopped by the bedroom window , checking the property. The beast was gone and Hux breathed a sigh of relief before getting into bed. Though he fell asleep quickly, he tossed and turned, the pained howling still in his head.

 

It was the sun shining brightly through the window that made Hux stir, but the sound of someone clearing their throat right next to his bed that truly woke him up. He sat up, terrified. Standing at the foot of his bed was a man, tall and built, completely naked and holding a familiar looking first aid kit. Hux recognized the man's voice as soon as he heard it.

 

"This belongs to you..."

 


	2. Priorities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux doesn't even know where to begin  
> Ren just wants shelter and rabbits  
> INTRODUCING the mysterious safe

"Ch-CHRIST!!!" Hux nearly fell from the bed. He bundled the sheets up around him, his mind darting to the weapon he had left downstairs, useless to him now with this wild looking man looming over him. "How long have- WERE YOU WATCHING ME SLEEP?!?!"

The man held out the first aid kit again, as if this were some gesture of good faith. The gash in his side from the night before was crudely stitched closed, bits of lacerated tissue still hanging out. He was covered in dirt and grime.

"This is yours. I brought it back for you."

Hux took a deep breath, trying to collect himself. This could be very dangerous. There was no landline currently connected in this house, and his mobile phone was useless way out here in such a remote area. His gun was downstairs... Unless he could attack the strange man with the lamp? The man stepped closer.

"This doesn't belong to me. So take it." his tone was simple, as if discussing the weather.

Hux finally snatched it from him, his voice frank. "Such good manners you have... I suppose stealing a first aid kit is below your moral code, but breaking into my home isn't?" He tossed the kit into his suitcase, noticing the man's eyes dart to it as he did.

"...You don't live here," he said, "You're only visiting."

Hux glared up at him, defensive. "I inherited this estate from my father. I'm his son, Brendol Hux. I lived here once, now I'm trying to figure out-" he shook his head, "oh, what am I even- I don't have to explain myself! If anyone should be explaining anything, it should be you! Who-... WHAT are you, and how did you get into my house?!"

"Ren," the man said, "...I'm called Ren. And I came in through the cellar."

"Cellar? What cellar? There is no cellar." Hux eyed him warily.

Ren gave another shrug, a small, repeated gesture that began to get on Hux's nerves. "I sleep there a lot... You lived in this house and never knew about it?" he sounded amused, but almost suspicious.

Hux finally got out of bed, quickly putting on a pair of jeans from his bag, obviously much more modest than the man called "Ren". He looked him up and down in disgust. "You're filthy... You need to go. I won't have a homeless man sleeping under my house. And-... and whatever happened this morning-"

"Did it scare you?" Ren's question was abrupt and took Hux by surprise. "You didn't react as badly as most people do."

"...I had a gun. You saw it."

"But you didn't use it..." Ren's eyebrow twitched. "You could have easily pulled the trigger. But instead, you helped me."

Hux was quiet for a moment, but shook his head again. "You need to leave. Now." He pointed to the open bedroom door.

Ren, surprisingly, turned and began to leave.

"Wait." Hux tossed the sweatpants to the taller man. "These should fit... You shouldn't run around naked, I don't care how remote this estate is, it's indecent."

Ren caught them, eyeing the shorter man carefully as he pulled them on. "...they smell like you."

Hux felt his face warm, unsure of what to make of such a comment. He gestured out the door again. "Go. I'll escort you out." He was curious about this supposed cellar.

Ren was compliant, allowing the other man to accompany him down the stairs. He led him to the living room, lumbering towards an ornate rug that was pushed up to reveal a open cellar door.

Hux hesitated as he approached. Thinking back now, he couldn't remember a time when the layout of this room had changed. It had been his father's study, meaning Hux and his mother had limited access, especially in his youth, save for the few times he snuck in to play on the sofa and look through his father's books in his absence.

A narrow set of stairs led to pitch black and Hux shifted uneasily.

Ren casually started down them, only stopping to look back at Hux. "...would you like to see?"

"I'm-... I'll probably just end up patching this door up... Before selling the-" he stopped as Ren took his hand, the gentleness of this touch surprising him.

"You shouldn't be afraid of the dark..."

"I'm NOT afraid of the dark. I just don't see the importance of an old cellar. This house can easily be a home without it." Hux didn't notice the bitterness in his tone.

"Then come." Ren pulled him persistently.

The ginger huffed and followed, realizing more and more that this intruder he had been so afraid of was basically a six-foot five year old.

This five year old clearly spent a decent amount of time here, his actions practically routine. First, he rummaged in the darkness, leaving Hux standing alone and praying to whoever was listening that he wouldn't be devoured by the beast, before he pulled off a large wooden panel to the outside, light filtering in and revealing the contents of the cellar; an old workbench, a tall, dust covered gunsafe in the corner, and a pile of various rubbish, dried underbrush, tiny bones and feathers, all covered in an old blanket. Then, the man called Ren crawled out through the opening as Hux watched. His eyes widened in horror as Ren carried in three rabbit carcasses, placing two on the workbench and settling onto the crude pallet with one, where he began pulling off its pelt.

Hux's stomach churned and he shook his head in disbelief. "I-... You've-... You're insane!" he paced, running a hand through his hair. "You've been living under this estate-... this BEAUTIFUL estate that I grew up in..! Living in a cellar I JUST found out about... Just-... Just skinning and eating animals like some sort of-... some sort of bloody psychopath!"

Ren, who had pulled off one of the rabbit's legs and was chewing on it, stopped and shrugged simply. "...I don't have a pack... I don't have a family, so I do things my own way..."

"FUCK your "pack"!! You need to go! You need to go and never come back... Clearly you're not well! But-... but I have enough to worry about without you doing your-" he gestured to the two dead rabbits on the workbench. "your- serial killer nonsense in the cellar of my house!"

Ren stood, and Hux suddenly realized how much bigger his build was... How easily the half man could probably snap his neck and toss him on the workbench as well. But he swallowed, looking up at him defiantly and standing his ground.

"...Can I stay until I find a better place to live?" Ren's tone was surprisingly calm. "There have been a lot of hunters in this area," he glanced down at his crudely stitched gash. "This has become a place of safety for me..."

Hux chewed the side of his mouth. There was a certain vulnerability in the man's dark eyes, a sense of desperation that Hux almost recognized. He took a deep breath. "...You have a week. No more carcasses in the cellar. Eat outside. And you'll stay down here... And no more running around naked."

A flash of relief crossed Ren's features and he nodded carefully. "I understand... Thank you..."

Hux turned to go back upstairs, but stopped. "...The way you were last night... Whatever that was..." he turned to Ren, "...how often does that happen?"

"Everynight. Just as soon as the sun goes down."

There were plenty of questions Hux wanted to ask, but he didn't know where to start. Instead, he nodded simply and turned to leave again.

Ren went to the workbench and retrieved his two rabbit carcasses, taking them, and the half eaten one, outside to finish.

Hux heard him leave, half wondering what the hell he had just permitted. He hesitated at the bottom of the cellar stairs as he got a better look at the gunsafe in the corner. It was shut and locked. Hux trudged up the stairs. Of all the questions buzzing through his mind at this point, whatever was locked away in the safe was pretty low on his list of priorities, definitely somewhere below "Why the hell are you letting a beast man with psychopathic tendencies live in your father's secret fucking cellar, Brendol Hux Jr.?!?!"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are. A crazed wolf man living in a cellar that he's made home...   
> I'll be able to update more often too with my granted free time!  
> Feel free to follow me on tumblr! It's only recently opened up, so it's still under construction...  
> werewolf-kylo-ren.tumblr.com


	3. Amber

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're here, ladies and gents... Our first chapter with smut... It only gets more explicit from here haha  
> I meant to update earlier, but time got ahead of me ugh
> 
> Hux does boring sorting, Ren goes through his first transformation in front of Hux, aaaand Hux needs some alone time.

Hux worked tirelessly into the day, taking many more smoke breaks than normal. At one point, he had pulled out his notebook, contemplating what to add to his To-do list, but gave up after minutes of staring down at it, his pencil merely hovering over paper.

"What's that?" Ren's voice made him jump.

Hux awkwardly stuffed the notebook back into his pocket, taking another drag of his cigarette and staring down at the man standing in the overgrown yard. "A notebook... It helps keep me organized..." he wrinkled his nose at Ren, who was covered in stale stains of blood, holding three, mangled rabbit pelts in his hands. "What have you been doing?"

Ren shrugged. "I finished eating..." he handed the pelts out, a bloody peace offering. "You can have these."

Hux put out the cigarette, eyeing him cautiously. "...keep them... add them to your-.. your bed." He turned to go back inside, suddenly feeling like he was shutting a great, big dog out as he closed the back door. Rubbing his neck, he approached a file drawer he had pulled from an old cabinet and had been sifting through. He brought it to the sofa and sat down, fingers running over the torn, ornate upholstery fabric. Perhaps he could sew it up?

He suddenly remembered sitting and watching his mother sew in the private wing upstairs as a boy. She would hum to him as she made blankets, many of which were still here, settled and collecting dust and mold around the house. It was always the smaller things he had missed the most after she had left his father all those years ago... Her arms holding him tightly, wiping away his tears when he was hurt or sad, her gentle voice comforting him...

Hux was pulled from his thoughts when the still exposed cellar door was pushed opened and Ren emerged. "...I may need the first aid kit again." He gestured to his side wound, which was open and oozing profusely.

"Jesus... Come here..." Hux stood, exasperated, and went to the kitchen, opening up a roll of paper towels he had bought on a grocery run and pulling off a generous amount. He carefully put pressure on Ren's side, the blood seeping through the towels. Hux took one of Ren's giant hands and moved it to the bundle. "Hold that there and go sit near the sofa. Do NOT get blood anywhere..."

Ren held it tightly to his side and obeyed, settling down on his knees next to the sofa, which he glanced over, eyes settling on the tears. He spoke, his voice solemn. "...I didn't realize how badly I tore the fabric... I'm sorry..."

Hux came over, stitching supplies in his hand, and knelt next to the large man. "You're awfully polite for a... whatever you are..."

"A werewolf." Ren pulled the towel away, the bleeding had slowed.

Hux took a small pair of scissors and cut the crude stitching. "A fair warning, I haven't done this before... but I understand the basics of hand sewing... It's basically the same thing..." He blotted the wound with a wet rag when he finished taking out the old stitches and Ren hissed in pain. Hux cleared his throat awkwardly as he cleaned the cut. "...What happened? I don't believe you told me."

"A bullet grazed me... I was only trying to hunt... I didn't realize that I was being hunted." he pushed some of his messy, grimy hair back. "It's been happening more and more... It always does this time of year-" he grunted in pain as Hux began restitching the deep wound.

Hux narrowed his eyes in concentration as he worked. "Well, hopefully you can find a better shelter soon... The cellar of this house is no place for-..." he trailed off.

"For what?" Ren eyed him carefully.

"Well, for a bloody animal!" Hux wasn't going to censor himself. "And I'll have you know, I hadn't seen you in that horrible form, I would have hardly believed-"

""Horrible form"!? It was still me! I only look different on the outside!" The emotion behind Ren's voice suggested that he had argued this very point before. He huffed in annoyance and looked away, side muscle twitching under the ginger's touch.

Hux's tone softened a bit. "Sorry... I've never... Well, I've heard of werewolves, but only in fictional works. Red Riding Hood and whatnot..." He began to tie off the stitches.

"That's the big, bad wolf." Ren corrected. He looked down at the cut, which was sewed up nicely.

"Whatever... Did your mother read you fairytales when you were a cub or something?" he sat back, looking at his work approvingly.

Ren only snorted in response and stood again, walking towards the cellar door with a solemn "Thanks."

Hux watched him go, realizing how quiet and boring, almost lonely, the house had been before he discovered Ren. "...you can stay up here, you know..."

The taller man simply eyed him for a moment before lumbering back down the stairs, closing the door without another word as Hux looked on disdainfully. "...Or you can go roll around in your ruddy leaf bed." He went back to sorting.

 

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

　

Hux had successfully sorted through all of the filing cabinet drawers and had filled almost three bags full of trash to take off. He set the last of them by the front door, stretching. His stomach rumbled and he realized he hadn't eaten all day, a mixture of stress and the mental image of Ren tearing the skin off a dead rabbit earlier had spoiled any appetite he may have had. He went to the kitchen, sorting through the small batch of groceries he had bought. Realizing he didn't feel much like cooking, he settled on cereal for the evening. Suddenly, there was a commotion out in the yard, making Hux jump and spill some of his Cheerios, hunters and werewolves still in the back of his mind. He rushed to the window and saw Ren crawling out into the yard, visibly trembling and writhing in the grass.

Hux's first instinct was to help, but he was smart about it. He opened the back door, suddenly seeing how low the sun was in the sky, barely peeking through the trees. What was happening suddenly made sense... Ren was changing.

The man groaned, gripping fistfuls of grass, a creeping grey color webbing across his skin, his limbs lengthening, bones in his legs cracking and contorting into legs like a beast. His fingers and toes twisting into claws, thick, black fur sprouting down his back, a bulge formed in the back of his sweat pants, a thick, shaggy tail. His ears pointed and grew through his hair, teeth lengthening and pointing into sharp fangs. He stared wearily at Hux when his gruesome transformation had finished.

Hux swallowed, suddenly intent on not making a big deal out of it. He could almost feel Ren's self consciousness. "...That looked painful.." He kept his voice even, an effort that proved difficult with what had just taken place in front of him. Hux opened the back door wider and gestured to him. "...come on. You're welcome inside. No hunters can get you there."

The beast's ears barely perked and he lumbered forward.

The ginger suddenly had a horrible mental image of the massive creature changing his mind mid-stride, suddenly finding him appetizing and devouring him before finishing his way inside. But Ren simply crawled past him, even appearing to tread carefully with his claws so as to not scratch the wood floors. Hux closed the door behind them and faced the beast.

"So this lasts until morning, then?" he found his tension easing a bit, making it easier to speak calmly.

Ren nodded. "Yes... once the sun starts coming back up, I'll change back."

"That's... That's good..." This was awkward. Hux clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides. "Are you hungry?"

"You're not afraid of me?" Ren asked abruptly and a bit loudly.

A moment of silence passed before Hux shrugged. "Not really..." It was a half lie, but whatever fear he had felt before was slowly ebbing away the more time he spent in the presence of the beast.

Ren suddenly lumbered forward, peering so intently at the ginger with those bright, amber eyes, their faces were almost touching.

Hux's eyes widened a bit as he looked up at Ren's and he swallowed. "...Are you alright?" His heart suddenly started racing as the beast closed his eyes, pressing his forehead against Hux's. He felt goosebumps on his skin. "I-... What-... What are you doing?"

"Thank you..." Ren almost exhaled as he said it, as if he had been holding his breath in anticipation over Hux's reaction to all of this. "You've let me into this house... Offered me temporary shelter and the food off of your table... No one has treated me this kindly since-..." he trailed off.

Hux was completely taken aback. He awkwardly reached up, patting Ren's head. "It's... it's not too much trouble... Don't mention it..."

They stayed like this for awhile, Hux didn't know how long... Minutes ticked away with nothing but silence between them, yet it was somehow almost comforting above awkward or unnerving. Hux carefully stepped away. "I'm going to work on organizing this living room some more..."

Ren nodded. "I can help..."

Hux let out a nervous laugh. "Er-... How about you just relax and-... and watch?"

The beast nodded again after a moment of hesitation. He lumbered over and sat obediently next to the desk, watching Hux intently.

Hux went to the kitchen and retrieved his (now slightly soggy) cereal, taking a bite of it as he surveyed the desk. He set it down and opened the drawers of the old antique one by one, surveying their contents, finding it a bit strange with Ren's amber eyes watching him so intently. He pulled out some papers, envelopes, and a folder. The papers were only old health records, he set them aside to file, along with the envelopes, turning his attention to the folder. He opened it, flipping through its contents, but finding it hard to concentrate under the watch of the beast. His face reddened a bit as he broke the maddening silence. "...So where are you from, Ren?"

Ren, who was still absently staring at Hux, jumped a bit at being addressed. "From... From around..."

Hux glanced up at him. "That's vague... You've said that you don't have any family or a- ..uhm-... "pack". Where are they?"

"My parents died when I was young... I've tried to join packs before, but-..." his gaze found the floor. "It never worked out... So I always came back here."

Hux raised his brows. "How long have you been here?"

"Years." Another vague answer. Ren looked uncomfortable, like a child sent to the principal's office, awkwardly shifting in his sweatpants.

"It must be lonely... You've never thought about leaving?" Hux tore his gaze away from the folder and looked down at him.

The beast thought for a moment, his ears lowering as he bit his lip. "...I..."

The ginger could see the discomfort in his eyes and cleared his throat after another long stretch of silence passed between them. He pushed the folder aside for now, moving onto another drawer, finding it harder and harder to concentrate as he grew more and more fatigued.

He rubbed his eyes, almost nodding off a couple of times as the night progressed. Ren noticed and stood.

"You should go to bed. It's late."

"M'fine.." Hux ran a hand through his hair as he tossed some old magazines into a trash bag.

In a quick movement, and a startled yelp from Hux, Ren hoisted him out of the desk chair and held him in his arms.

"What the FUCK do you think you're doing?!"

"Carrying you to bed. You won't go on your own." Ren lumbered up the stairs and to the bedroom, Hux still too stunned to protest.

"I-... I haven't even locked up the house!" Hux sputtered, face reddening.

Ren dropped him onto the bed, rougher than he intended to. "You don't need to lock anything... I'm here."

The ginger sat up, a bit dazed. "I haven't-... I need to get ready for bed! Jesus, you giant, ruddy dog..." He stood, going to the bathroom to wash up.

The beast continued watching him, much to his dismay. Hux could see his towering figure behind him in the bathroom mirror. He turned, irritated. "Do you mind? Go guard the house or something..."

Ren nodded and moved out of sight.

Hux took a deep breath, collecting himself a moment before dressing down to his boxer briefs, turning out the lamp, and climbing into bed. All of the things in the world to think of, the worries, the stressors, the concept of a wolfman lumbering around downstairs as he rested up here, and his mind kept wandering to those eyes. Perhaps it was just him getting used to them watching him at this point, but instead of his initial fear over such a thing, he felt a sense of... was it excitement?

No... No, surely not. Hux bit his lip as he felt a stir of arousal under the old comforter, his mind wandering to the creature downstairs. Before he knew it, his hand was running down his bare stomach, and he lightly brushed over the slowly swelling bulge in his underwear. He gently palmed himself, thinking about Ren's body this morning... Covered in dried blood and dirt... His hair hanging in his face...

He swallowed, stopping and sitting up. How fucked up was he?

Hux stared at the empty door frame for a moment, listening for Ren and trying to pinpoint where he was in the house. It was silent. "...Ren-??" He waited a moment, listening. It was silent.

The beast must be down in the cellar...He stood, hurrying to the bathroom and quietly closing the door behind him. He pulled his drawers down to his ankles, freeing his cock from its confines with a small gasp. A small dot of precome already stained the front of them.

Hux hesitantly and gently thumbed the slit, stifling another gasp. It had been too damn long since he had done this. With the stress of the past few weeks, it had been the last thing on his mind. He carefully spit into his hand, just enough to ease the friction as he stroked up and down, setting a steady rhythm. His mind automatically fantasized about Ren standing behind him. He could feel the beast's warm breath on the nape of his neck, feel his large hands brushing down his chest. Hux reached up with his free hand, circling and pinching the tender, pink flesh of his nipple. He bit back a moan, picturing it as the creature's hand. clawed and monstrous. The fantasy continued, Ren's hands continuing down and brushing through the light, ginger curls below Hux's navel, giant, clawed hand gripping Hux's swollen cock-

" _Oooohh_ -.." Hux swallowed heavily, willing himself to stay quiet. He stopped to listen for a moment, unsure of how good beast Ren's hearing was, before biting down hard on his knuckle and closing his eyes again, resuming his stroking.

Precome drooled from his cock, making his pace that much quicker. He could feel his release, so close... so damn close... His hips bucked into his touch as he imagined Ren taking him from behind. Maybe here, maybe against this sink as he gripped it tightly, Ren's growling voice commanding him to stare at himself in the mirror as he fucked into him mercilessly-

"JESUS- _FUCK_ -!!!" Hux jumped, cursing loudly and releasing his cock at the sharp knock on the door. Fucking hells, he was so damn close to coming... He yanked his underwear back up, trying to will his throbbing erection away.

"Hux...? Are you alright?" Ren's voice came from the other side of the door, and Hux had never been madder at anyone in his life.

"I'm FINE." He made sure his cock was tucked away and he washed his hands of the precome before opening the door to the beast, hoping his face wasn't too red. "...What do you want?"

Ren narrowed his eyes at the other man, his ears perking. "...you smell strange..."

Hux pushed past him, grateful it was relatively dark in his room, but Ren grabbed his arm as he went, and when Hux turned and stared back into those piercing, amber eyes that bore into his soul, he knew he was truly fucked...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DENIED, HUX. But where will it possibly go from here??
> 
> Follow me on tumblr! Talk to me about some kylux and star wars feelings!  
> werewolf-kylo-ren.tumblr.com


	4. January

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux finds out a bit more about these strange circumstances. (Also, he didn't know THAT turned him on)  
> Ren punishes him in childish ways, and can't make cereal correctly.
> 
> There are more secrets behind this house and the beast named Ren than Hux previously thought.

"...You're... aroused..." Ren's wolfish nose barely twitched as he looked him up and down.

Hux, a brilliant shade of scarlet, stood dumbfounded, still entranced by the beast's eyes. His fantasy played in his head again, him gripping the bathroom sink, tossing his head back as the creature, presently gripping his arm, rutted into him, growling into his ear. When he finally spoke, his tone was defensive. "...I was just taking care of myself... It happens... And it's been awhile with-" he gestured towards the downstairs with his free hand, "-with everything going on and all of the stress- _hah-_!!!" Hux's hips twitched as Ren suddenly cupped the bulge in his underwear with a massive hand.

"I can help you." The beast sounded as if he were offering to help with the dishes.

Hux swallowed heavily, trying to break contact with Ren's gaze. His voice was far more feeble than he intended. "I... I don't need- N- _nnnh_..."

Ren stroked Hux's length through the fabric and pulled him closer, almost purring in his ear. "...Let me help you... You've done so much for me..."

"I-... _fuck_ , Ren... I really haven't..." He placed a hand over Ren's on his length, breathless. "I just-..." Hux bit his lip as he looked back into those amber eyes, his dam of composure quickly breaking. Suddenly, he reached forward, gripping fistfuls of the beast's hair and pulling him closer. "F-fuck it... It's been too long... I want to come, and I want to come _hard_... Can you do that, you ridiculous dog?"

Ren growled deep in his chest and grabbed Hux by the waist, pressing him back onto the bed and pinning him down, grinding his hips into Hux's as he ravaged the smaller man's neck with licks and sucks.

Hux gasped in surprise as he was hit with another pang of arousal, his arms wrapped around the beast's back, tugging on the thick, black fur. He let out a shuddered breath as Ren's fangs grazed his skin, tiny pinpricks that barely drew blood. His face contorted in twisted pleasure as the beast's lips brushed down to his chest and he felt that warm, long tongue sweep over one of his nipples, the contrast between the warmth of Ren's mouth and the cool air once the tender, pink flesh was wet with saliva causing an aching swell in his boxer briefs.

"Re-...Een..!! Have you- _ahh_ -!! ..have you ever done this before..??" he tried to keep his hips from instinctively bucking up into Ren in anticipation.

The beast continued down the ginger's torso, kissing and sucking down to the elastic of his underwear. "Well... not to anyone else before... But- but I have to myself-"

Hux raised his head to look at him. "You've-... wait, you've sucked your own dick?!"

Ren nodded, his ears lowering. "But I can only do it in this form..."

"How do you even...?" Hux found his eyes wandering to the sweatpants. Human Ren was big, sure... But Hux was suddenly wondering how the beast's anatomy worked. "Is it... is it bigger when you change then?"

"It's..." Ren paused, but shook his head. "Don't worry yourself." He pulled down the smaller man's waistband, freeing his engorged member, and pulled him to the edge of the bed. The beast made quick work of completely discarding the boxer briefs and he spread Hux's legs.

Hux let Ren work, anxious to relieve his ache of arousal, ready to feel that ridiculous tongue on his cock. His breath hitched in his throat as Ren licked a warm stripe from the base to the tip, his tongue circling over the head before taking it into the warmth of his mouth.

" _oooh_... R-Ren..." he tried to thrust into the beast's mouth, but Ren held his narrow hips down with his clawed hands.

He purred in his chest as he slid one of his hands down to massage Hux's balls as he sucked and worked on the shaft, his own arousal stirring from this.

Hux was a mess of pants and groans as Ren worked, only quieting when the beast reached up to the ginger's mouth and forced two of his clawed fingers inside, taking them into his mouth without protest. He sucked and worked at the fingers, tasting the slightest, metallic hint of blood on them, moaning around them as Ren's head began to bob on his length.

The beast withdrew his fingers, Hux giving a whine of protest, before bringing them to his tight entrance. He circled around the puckering ring, eliciting a gasp from the smaller man.

"R-Ren-... what are- _ooohhh! ooh~ fuck_..!!!" he squirmed as Ren breached him with one of those long, thick digits, the claw gently grazing his insides as he clenched around him.

The beast moaned softly around his length, eagerly swallowing down the precome that drooled from the tip. Once he deemed Hux stretched enough, he added a second finger and Hux practically screamed as his body struggled to adjust. He spread his legs as far as they would go, curling his toes as Ren found his prostate, and struck it over and over with those clawed fingers, all while taking his entire, throbbing length into the velvety heat of his mouth.

"A- _Aaauughh_!! Ren!! _Oh- Ohhh_ I'm gonna _come_ -!!" Hux arched his back as Ren pressed hard against that glorious bundle of nerves, letting out a strangled cry as he came hard, shooting spurt after spurt of his release into the beast's mouth. Ren greedily milked him of his come, sloppily licking the excess that dripped from his mouth and down Hux's balls.

Hux tried to regain his composure as Ren removed his fingers from the tight heat and rubbed the his inner thighs, the beast growling softly in his chest.

"...I can't believe... that just happened..." Hux could think with more clarity now that his mind wasn't filled with lust. He groaned as he gingerly pressed his legs together and sat up, still spent. "I won't lie, though... It was-... it was good. Amazing..."

"I did a good job then?" Ren rested his head on Hux's lap and looked up at him, a light smile playing at his come stained lips.

Hux stared down into those amber eyes and brushed a hand through the thick, dark hair. He couldn't help but smile himself, but it faded quickly with realization.

"...I just-... I just had my cock sucked by a ruddy beast..."

Ren's ears lowered and he glared at Hux. "...you make it sound like a bad thing-"

"No, no no-!" Hux pushed him away and slid off the bed, rushing towards the bathroom. "No, this is completely fucked up... I shouldn't have- This was a mistake..." He ran the water in the sink, looking for a washrag.

Ren stood, awkwardly shifting in his sweatpants. "...You asked me if I could do it... Did I do something bad?"

Hux found a rag and wet it, frantically cleaning the mixture of saliva and come from his cock and thighs. Ren hadn't done anything bad... It was good, it was too good, and Hux didn't want to admit it. How sick... Sick and twisted. He glared up at the beast.

"Go-... Go watch the house again! Out!" He snapped and pointed towards the bedroom door.

Ren looked dumbfounded. "But-But I only wanted to-"

"I said _OUT!!!_ Go on! Leave!!!" Hux raised his voice and saw the beast clench his fists.

With a snarl, Ren lunged out of the room on all fours, leaving Hux in the bathroom.

Hux sighed, rinsing the rag and tossing it into a pile of dirty clothes in the corner of the bathroom, along with his stained boxer briefs from earlier. He heard Ren throwing a tantrum downstairs, objects being knocked off shelves, papers shredding, the beast yelling. He went to the bedroom door, closing and locking it, despite the fact that Ren could probably reduce it to splinters if he so desired. Hux went to his suitcase, finding a fresh pair of underwear and pulling them on. He climbed into the disheveled bed, willing himself to forget about what had just transpired, to forget about the desire for it to happen again welling up in the pit of his stomach.

Hux couldn't seem to fall asleep, and it wasn't over fear of the monster downstairs, most likely tearing up the efforts of the past few days, but of the monster in his head, convincing him that he wanted to experience more and more of Ren. _All_ of Ren...

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Hux heard the cicadas shrieking. He was hot and his skin burned, a tickle in his back. He stirred, rolling over on his side. His nose tickled and he groaned in irritation, opening his eyes. It was green. Everything was green. Hux sat up, startled and disoriented. The sun was bright, the air hot and sticky. He had been laying in the backyard, which was becoming more and more overgrown. He stood, his pale skin was already reddening and he was still in his underwear. Hux stared around, confused and paranoid, his first thought something along the lines of "Where the hell is that fucking wolf?!?"

"REN!!!" Hux called, storming towards the house. "REN?!?!"

He approached the back door, but it was locked.

"...what-... on Earth...?"

Ren barely cracked it open. He was back in his human form, his dark eyes narrowed at Hux through the crack in the door. "...This house isn't yours. It's mine. So I put you where you belong."

Hux was trying to process this, his fatigue and the heat outside making it difficult. "..you-... You mean to tell me... you took advantage of me sleeping..." he spoke slowly, "..you carried me outside... and you locked me out of my own bloody house? Is this what happened? Am I understanding this correctly?"

Ren shrugged. "The only mistake you made is assuming this is your house. It's mine." He closed the door and Hux heard the shifting lock.

"You-.. you ruddy FUCK!" Hux pounded on the door. "Are you upset because I kicked you out of my room?!?"

"It's my house...' Ren's voice came from the other side of the door. "So the room is mine too."

Hux made a noise of frustration and kicked the door one more time before he trudged down the back porch stairs. He circled the house, checking windows one by one to see if any had been left unlocked, cursing himself for his paranoia and diligence in keeping the house locked up.

It had been about an hour since Hux had woken up. He had circled and checked the house three times by now, the thought of Ren relaxing inside infuriating him further. The sun was relentless on his skin, already turning it a light shade of rose. He cursed the stupid half man as he wiped a sheen of sweat from his brow.

Suddenly, Hux remembered the opening to the cellar. He hurried towards the back of the house, his heart leaping when he saw that the makeshift door Ren had made was open. Hux glanced around before approaching, paranoid that the taller man was watching him from the windows, using his advantage to stay a step ahead of him. He crawled through the opening, shuddering as a cobweb brushed against his bare back.

Once inside, he waited to give his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness. It was already much cooler in here in comparison to the sweltering conditions outside. He quietly approached the stairs to the cellar door, taking them one at a time and listening intently for the lumbering man upstairs.

It was quiet... Far too quiet...

Hux took a deep breath, preparing himself. He braced his tired body, then tried to shove the door open. It didn't budge. He tried again. Hux swore loudly as he realized that Ren must have pushed his father's heavy desk over the door so it couldn't be opened.

"You-... YOU _STUPID, FUCKING **DOG**!!!_ How DARE you tamper with the furniture!?!?!" Hux's voice was sore, but he was enraged enough to carry it out. "This is MY fucking house!! Not yours!! You'll let me back in NOW, or you'll be thrown into the fucking woods! And I hope they skin your FILTHY beast form and use it as a rug!!!"

He was met with silence and he screamed in frustration, stomping back down the stairs and sitting on the bottom one. He took another deep breath, trying to collect himself as he wiped a bead of sweat from the tip of his nose.

 

Hux didn't know how long he sat there. Despite the room being cooler than outside, there was no breeze, and the stagnant air around him grew warmer and more stifling as the day progressed. He stood, miserably, his back stiff, and his eyes settled on the gunsafe in the corner.

Hux glanced to the door to the house, then the one to outside before carefully approaching. He ran a hand over the top of it, brushing off a generous amount of dust. It was tall, almost as tall as him, aged and a gunmetal grey. It had an old number pad on it, the digital display looked like a calculator screen from when he was still a boy in school. Hux tested the buttons to see if they still worked. The numbers were faded on the display, but he could still make them out.

Hux bit his lip, trying to think of a possible combination, dates of significance. He tried birthdays, anniversaries, digits of social security numbers. Finally, it was down to studying each button, trying to decipher which ones were more worn than the others.

"One... two... three... nine..." Hux read the numbers aloud, but didn't even know where to begin with working with them... He sighed, leaving the safe to sit on the old, worn pallet on the floor, where he contemplated what to do next.

One, two, three, nine... One, two, three, nine...

Hux suddenly stood. If Ren was going to trash HIS home like a five year old, perhaps he would respond in kind. But the more he stared around the room, the more he realized that there wasn't much to destroy in the gloomy cellar. Annoyed, he tore the old blanket from the pallet and proceeded to kick the old leaves, bones, and feathers around, scattering them about the ground and making a mess of the beast's bed. It was petty, Ren probably wouldn't care, but it made Hux feel better at least.

Hux saw something in the mess that caught his eye and he cleared away some brush, revealing an aged piece of paper. He carefully picked it up. The text was worn, the paper yellowed with time, but it was, unmistakably, an old newspaper article. Hux narrowed his eyes to read it, the ink smudged by what looked like water spots in some places.

" **January 3rd, 1992**

**LOCAL DEVISTATION: WOMAN MURDERED, HUSBAND AND SON STILL MISSING**

_Police are still baffled at the gruesome discovery they found on Wednesday morning. Leia Organa-Solo, a prominent member of our community, beloved by so many, was found murdered at her home, a single gunshot wound to the chest. Her husband, Han Solo, 34, and son, Ben Solo, 2, are still missing. Search and rescue teams are still trying to locate their whereabouts. The community held a candlelight vigil for the both deceased and missing on Thursday evening. Funeral services for Mrs. Solo will be held-"_

The rest of the article was torn away. Hux turned it around, but the only thing on the back of the article was an obnoxiously printed add for detergent.

"Have you learned your lesson yet?" Hux jumped as Ren crawled through the outside entrance.

"SHit-! I'm-" he fumbled with the paper and feebly kicked some of the mess back into a pile.

"You don't deserve it, but I brought you-" Ren approached with an awkwardly poured bowl of cereal, but nearly dropped it when he saw Hux holding the article. "Th-That's MINE! What are you-" His eyes darted around at the mess on the floor. "Did you destroy my bed?!?!"

"Yes! I was a bit annoyed at being locked out of my own house!!" Hux said defensively.

Ren put the bowl down on the workbench and snatched the paper from Hux, carefully brushing it off and holding it as if it were a precious heirloom. He glared at the other man.

"I only locked you out because you kicked me out last night after I was good!"

"What are you, a damn _puppy?!_ " Hux brushed some more of the rubbish together, unearthing the dirty blanket and shaking it out. He tossed it over the new pile, but the pallet looked even sadder than before.

"No-.. I just thought..." Ren bit his lip and quickly hid the article under the blanket. "...you can come back inside now... I'm sorry I locked you out... I was just mad. Also," he gestured to the bowl, "I made you food."

Hux looked at the overflowing bowl of cereal. Somehow, it was hard to stay mad at the massive five year old, despite the fact that Hux spent a good portion of the afternoon outside, burning, sweating, and yelling in his underwear. Still, the article made him wary of the other man.

Ren watched as Hux picked up the bowl and drank deeply. "...you're red."

Hux finished the milk in no time, still thirsty as he put the bowl down and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Yes, that happens when I'm locked outside for however many hours..."

"Five, I think..." Ren shrugged and Hux wanted to punch him.

"...What's that all about?" Hux nodded in the direction of the pallet. "...That woman was murdered... Did you have anything to do with that?"

Ren practically bristled. "...No. I'm good." With that, he turned and lumbered out of the cellar.

Hux swore he saw Ren's eyes moisten...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting more into a plot here!!! Thank you all for sticking around! I hope the smut wasn't bad, there will be a lot more about it, also I love your feedback and comments so far! Thank you!  
> Feel free to follow my tumblr for more kylux goodness!   
> Werewolf-kylo-ren.tumblr.com


	5. Whiskey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux and Ren both find out a bit more about each other,  
> Hux is tipsy  
> Ren is just sad...

" _Augh!_ Damn it all, Ren!!" Hux winced as Ren gently rubbed some lotion on his red shoulders. It wasn't aloe, but it was all he managed to find in the medicine cupboard upstairs. He took a deep breath, trying to lower his aggression a bit. It was easier once his sunburn started to cool with the ointment. "Please be careful... It's very sore..."

Ren's hands were calloused, rough feeling, but careful as he moved to Hux's back. "You weren't outside for that long... How did you manage to burn so badly?"

"My family is from England, I've lived there for a good portion of my life... I burn easily..." he said, groaning a bit. Ren's touch felt nicer than he'd admit, and he nearly protested when the ointment had been rubbed in and the larger man ceased his massaging.

Hux, who had been leaning forward on the old couch, carefully moved back to rest, his body still sore from being outside in the heat and his mind tired from his disturbed sleep. Ren began to move around to sit next to him, but Hux held out a hand.

"No. You're filthy, and you've already trashed my house. No sitting on the furniture until you've washed and changed out of those bloody sweatpants." Hux looked around wearily at the messy downstairs. Granted, it wasn't exactly a photograph out of Better Homes and Gardens before Ren's childish tantrum, but now the floor was littered with torn papers, scattered knick knacks, and tattered books.

Ren shifted uncomfortably. "I have a hard time with my anger... I'm sorry..."

Something in the sincerity, the innocence behind the apology made it hard for Hux to be angry. He stood, pointing upstairs.

"The shower. You can use it... There is a towel hanging up as well and fresh clothes in the suitcase. You have the build of a ruddy refrigerator, so you might want to find some more sweatpants, I believe I have another pair in there. What are- _REN!_ Do you mind?!"

Ren had started taking off the dirty pants, having no concept of modesty. He looked at Hux, slowly handing them over.

"...I'll return to wash these." he said, nodding.

Hux's face reddened beyond the slight sunburn on his cheek bones, and he forced himself to look away. "Just-... Just go bathe..." When the other man started up the stairs, he called out after him. "And undress in the bathroom in privacy next time, will you?"

Ren let out a grunt, which Hux presumed had meant "Okay."

He sighed and walked to the desk, shoving it off of the cellar door and back to its original place. When he moved it, he heard an odd shifting. Hux stopped, pushing the desk again, unsure if he imagined it. He heard it again.

Hux kneeled down and began gingerly knocking on the side of the desk. It sounded solid enough, save for one spot at the bottom. He lowered himself to his stomach, grimacing at the dust that was collected on the floor, before turning over on his back to inspect the bottom of the desk. Looking up, he could see what appeared to be a hidden compartment, that was rough enough for Hux to assume it was added by his own father... or whoever the desk belonged to before him.

He pulled it out like a makeshift drawer, his eyes widened with anticipation. Out fluttered a note that landed next to him. Hux felt around for anything else, but the drawer was empty. He carefully slid it back in place and grabbed the note, scooting out from under the desk and sitting up so he could get a better look at it, his heart suddenly beating faster.

The handwriting was gentle, yet urgent.

"I'm afraid this is the last letter I'll be writing to you. Maybe things would have happened differently in another life, but I am content with mine, as you should be with yours. We're no longer staying here, as I've found work elsewhere and it's become too dangerous, but despite our differences, I'll always care for you and your family. I'll always cherish our time as friends, especially at the academy. Take care of yourself."

Hux looked for a name, but didn't find one. On the back of the note, there was something else scrawled in angry, desperate writing.

 

Dec. 31, 1992

FORGIVE ME

 

He hesitated, wondering if he should put the note back. Did Ren even know how to write? Perhaps he was corresponding with someone. He panicked as he heard Ren's heavy footfalls down the stairs and quickly pocketed it.

"The water was colder than the lake..." He came into the living room, dried poorly, but at least he was clothed, wearing Hux's other pair of sweatpants.

"You know, you can adjust it... Make it warmer..." Hux said as he stood and finished moving the desk to its original spot. "Come here, let me look at those stitches..."

Ren stepped closer, lifting his arm and letting Hux examine the wound. Hux gently brushed a hand over it, causing Ren to swallow heavily at the contact.

"It's healing very nicely..." Hux's voice turned frank. "I'm surprised with how filthy you are... As long as you're staying here, you'll be bathing regularly. No lake water or... or rolling around in the grass, whatever your kind does..."

Ren suddenly looked nervous. "...I need to start looking for another place to stay for shelter..."

An uncomfortable silenced passed between them before Hux took his hand away from him and went to one of the kitchen cabinets. "...I'm going to have a drink... Today was exhausting..."

He opened it, sifting through the dusty glass bottles. Brendol Hux Sr. was an avid drinker, and Hux easily recalled the nights his father stumbled into the house, his eyes bloodshot, speech slurred and angry, clothes smelling of old scotch, just to lumber towards this cabinet to pour himself another drink.

He found a bottle of whiskey and opened it, smelling it and grimacing, but proceeding to grab a shot glass as well. Hux eyed Ren.

"Do you drink?"

Ren looked at the bottle apprehensively. "Water... Whatever is in that bottle smells strange..."

Hux took a shot, the liquid burning his tongue and his throat. He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head. "This isn't water... I doubt you'll like how it tastes, but you don't really drink for the taste... I don't at least..."

"...Then why drink it?" Ren almost cocked his head.

Hux almost laughed as he refilled the glass, taking it with him to the desk, where he sat heavily and sighed. A five year old. A great, lumbering man child, standing here in his living room, in this big ridiculous house, in those unfortunately fitting sweatpants... He emptied the glass, grimacing again, despite this one being smoother, and motioned for Ren to sit on the old sofa.

"I shouldn't... I'll be shifting soon, and I scratch and writhe around a lot..." he stayed standing.

"What, are you nervous you'll make a mess?" Hux's tone was sarcastic and he made a point to look around the room, the fact that Ren had thrown a tantrum was still evident in the rubbish all over the floor.

Ren looked around as well, before slowly starting to pick scattered papers up off the ground.

"Don't worry about it..." Hux ran a hand through his hair. "It doesn't matter..."

"I made a mess of the house... I should clean it up..."

"Honestly, I'm probably just going to have an estate sale and get rid of the damn thing..." Hux absently traced over a line in the wood of the desk. "It's not like it's full of happy memories or anything... Quite the opposite, actually..." He tapped the empty shot glad with his finger. "Can you bring that bottle over here?"

Ren put the papers down and went to the counter, retrieving the whiskey bottle and bringing it to Hux, who muttered a "Thanks." He shifted uncomfortably as Hux downed another shot.

"...Why isn't it happy for you?"

Hux continued tracing over the lines, shrugging. "Maybe it was, once... But then my father started up with bad habits... Mum left eventually... Then we moved away..."

Ren sat on the floor in the middle of the room, staring intently at Hux, who couldn't help but feel like this was some sort of strange story time from grade school.

"...what're you looking at?"

"I was listening. It sounds interesting..." Ren's brown eyes were curious.

"S'not like it's some interesting story... I was an only child, my father was in the military once... He was honorably discharged when he was hurt in battle... He got a civilian job through a private contract and worked his way up, made a lot of money... Always wanted to invest in properties, like some sort of ruddy Monopoly game..." He sloshed the whiskey around in the bottle, his sunburned face looked redder. "We moved around a lot after this house... He would drink a lot. Mom left. He drank more..." Hux shrugged. "Probably why he died..."

"How did he die?" Ren kept his voice soft.

Hux took a deep breath, pouring himself another shot and downing it, spluttering a bit and looking outside at the setting sun. "...Killed 'imself..." He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "They found him... found 'im in 'is living room.. said he was in his recliner-stupid thing... he always sat in that stupid recliner..."

A long silence passed between them, interrupted by Ren groaning as he felt his transformation start, the final rays of the sun disappearing. It passed quickly, his skin greying, limbs lengthening, and fur sprouting. He shuddered, grasping in pain as Hux looked on, mildly concerned. By the time Ren was done, the area he had been sitting had several deep claw marks from him lashing out through his painful shifting. He looked up at Hux wearily with those bright amber eyes.

"S-... Sorry..." He tried to regain his composure, his body shaking with labored breaths.

Hux was apathetic. "Fuck it... I already said I wanna get rid of the damn thing..." He mumbled as he rubbed his eye. "That must be awful... Going through that every night..."

It took a moment for Ren to realize his was addressing him. He shrugged lightly. "...I'm used to it... It's been like this for as long as I remember..."

"So you didn't... You weren't bit or something? S'that how it happens? I dunno, I only know about fairy tale version and stuff..."

Ren shifted uncomfortably. "I don't remember being bitten... I don't remember ever not being this..."

Hux looked him up and down, studying him. "...I always imagined werewolves being more-... I dunno... Like a wolf... I mean, you're plenty like a wolf, but you don't have as much fur... You're not like a-... Like an actual wolf..." He shrugged lazily. "I dunno... You know what I mean..."

"Well, I've actually met other werewolves... There aren't a lot of us... But-... But the ones I've met do look like wolves... They're much different than me... Which is why..." he trailed off, swallowing and looking down.

Hux followed his gaze to the stitched wound on his side. Despite the fact that he was slightly drunk, he could still put it together.

"...It wasn't a hunter that attacked you, was it?" Hux spoke slowly. "...It was another werewolf..."

Ren's eyes slowly found Hux's. They were clouded with a horrible loneliness, almost a sense of despair. "Yes, it was another werewolf... There haven't been hunters here in a long time..." He brushed hand over the claw marks on the wood floor. "It happens a lot. Just-... just disputes over territory, and... and things like that..." His tone suddenly grew desperate. "But please don't kick me out just yet! I'm sorry I lied-"

"They pick on you because you're a half baked werewolf?!" Hux didn't hear the last part. He was feeling a sense of anger over the mental image of someone as (for the most part) gentle and polite as Ren being picked on and attacked for not being impressive in wolf form, his inebriation only fueling his anger. "Fuck them! I don't care if you're not a full blown werewolf! Hell, if you were, you'd have probably killed me when we met!"

Hux stood and went to Ren, crouching down next to him and holding his face, causing Ren to wince a bit with surprise.

"You have your humanity, Ren... Something they obviously don't have if they spend their time attacking someone as docile and polite as you!"

The beast was taken aback, by both the sudden declaration and the stirring it caused deep in his chest. He brought his hands up and placed them over Hux's.

"I've-... I've been so lonely, Hux..." his eyes suddenly grew wet. "I've always been alone... I've learned to do things on my own, but I can't tell you how many times I long for a family... for a pack... for anyone..." he blinked, causing tears to fall from his weary, amber eyes. "Sometimes, I can hear them howl when the moon is full, and I'll quietly join in, just because I want to know what it's like... When I hunt, I imagine them running beside me, working together..." There was a flash of hopefulness on his features. "Then I could eat bigger things like deer, instead of just rabbits and birds..."

Hux watched, an ache in his chest.

How long had Ren been on his own? How long had he survived off of sad, small meals of rabbit and birds? How many nights had he lumbered back into the tiny, isolated cellar and rested on his pathetic bed of bones and leaves,listening to the howls outside and longing to join them? The fact that he followed such a depressing routine suddenly made Hux feel an immense sadness. When Ren sighed deeply and lowered his gazed, he carefully wrapped his arms around the beast, who felt less like a monster and more like a wounded child.

The tears fell harder, but no longer because of the loneliness. They fell for the feeling of being embraced, the long forgotten familiarity of it, the scent of whiskey, and Hux's slurred voice in his ear.

"It's going to be okay... I've got you..."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in this chapter! I had a wedding to attend, but I'm home and back at it!   
> Also, I'm working on some illustrations and concept art that I'll be uploading to my tumblr!  
> werewolf-kylo-ren.tumblr.com  
> As always, thanks for reading and your feedback is always appreciated!!!


	6. Entwined

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here comes some EXPLICIT content.   
> There is pretty descriptive sex, including knotting in this chapter, so if that's not your thing, turn back now. 
> 
> As far as summaries go,   
> Hux is hungover, Ren has a meltdown, and Hux finds out he's kinkier than he once thought.

Hux groaned and turned over, his eyes heavy and head pounding. It was hot. Too damn hot. He barely opened heavily lidded eyes, trying to blink them open. The room spun into focus, and he realized he was in his bed, still fully clothed, covered in nearly ten of his mother's sewn blankets from around the house. Hux rubbed his eyes groggily, feeling like he might have to be sick. He kicked the blankets off and slid out of bed, but tripped over something on the floor, stumbling to the ground with a loud swear.

  
Ren woke with a start at Hux tripping over him and sat up, his hair messy, but much cleaner in appearance than he usually was after a transformation. He turned to the other man, who was still struggling to get back up.

  
"Christ, Ren! Why are you asleep _right_ next to the bed?!"

  
"I didn't want-... Well, the last time we were on the bed-..." he trailed off, his face reddening a bit. "...I was only guarding you, I didn't want you to think I was being bad again..."

  
Hux finally stood, his footing a bit uneven as he lumbered towards the bathroom, feeling vomit crawl up his throat. He made it to the toilet, retcheding as Ren looked on, concerned.

  
"N-never again-..." He lifted his head weakly from the toilet, a cold sweat on his forehead. "I always forget why I don't drink... Until the morning af- _hu **URk**_ " Hux was sick again.

  
Ren carefully crawled towards the bathroom, bringing his hand up and gently rubbing the other man's back as he was sick. "...I told you it smelled strange... Maybe it was poisoned..."

  
Hux flushed, wiping his mouth on this sleeve, too weak to educate Ren on what a hangover was. "...need a shower...need to rinse my mouth out...need water..." He gingerly stood, peeling his shirt from his sweating body.

  
Ren has easily learned that Hux was uncomfortable when it came to being naked, so he turned and left the bathroom, giving him his privacy.

  
"Do you need help?" He called when the water sputtered on.

  
"No... 'm fine... If I'm not out in ten minutes, just assume I died..." Hux wearily said, kicking the dirty laundry out of the bathroom and closing the door.

  
Ren imagined Hux tripping over the clothes pile upon exiting the bathroom in his weakened state, so he began to shove it aside. He stopped when he picked up the stale scent of the drink from last night, and found the pants that Hux had been wearing, bringing them to his face.  
The scent was familiar, filling him with a strange feeling of longing and sadness. A sense of security, something lost long ago... Ren felt something rustle in the pocket and glanced at the door for a moment before rummaging through it and pulling out a folded note. He slowly read the neat handwriting, struggling a bit with stringing some of the words together, but struggling more with trying to figure out what the note was pertaining to exactly. He turned and saw what was on the other side, the date and the frantic writing.

**FORGIVE ME. FORGIVE ME. FORGIVE ME.**

  
Suddenly, there was a ringing in Ren's ears and he felt a wave of nausea. The ringing in his head was overtaken by the sound of desperate cries, he could see hands reaching out blindly, small and grey, lost in the dark, contained. Desperate pleas, a struggle, then silence.... Horrible, lonely, silence. Then he heard it, loudly and clearly.

  
**_"BEN!!!"_ **

  
He tossed the note down like a poisonous insect, overwhelmed, hypersensitive. A cold sweat washed over him and his instinct told him to run. To run as fast as he could. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes and he stumbled back. He didn't hear the water turn off, didn't hear the door open or Hux questioning him, the only thing that stopped the cries in his head was the feeling of Hux cupping his face.  
Ren looked at him, trying to focus on the other man's eyes that stared into his. He couldn't breathe, couldn't think. Hux's voice slowly grew louder than the ringing that continued in his ears.

  
"...-en... Ren..." Hux tightened his grip. " _Ren!!_ "

  
Ren panicked and yelled, lashing out and raking a clawed hand over Hux's bare chest as he tried to back away. Hux winced, grunting in pain, but fumbled to keep his hold on the other man.

  
"Ren!! Come back to me! It's okay, you're okay!" He softened his grip, gently wiping away a tear from Ren's cheek with his thumb. " _sshhh_... I've got you... I've got you..."

  
Hux had heard the commotion in the shower and only managed to wrap himself with a towel before coming out to see Ren having some sort of fit on the floor in his beastly form. Now he was trying to keep calm himself, despite the fact that beads of blood were oozing down his chest and the taller man was still working himself down from his episode.

  
Ren felt his tension ease the more Hux gently hushed him. He swallowed heavily, heart still beating fast, as he pressed into Hux's touch, trying to take collected breaths. Ren tried to focus on Hux's eyes, watching his pupils shrink and grow with each frantic blink, a small detail to watch, slowing his mind down.

   
"...I'm-... I'm okay... I'm okay, I'm okay..." Ren could hear the ringing start to subside, the pain in his chest, however, was more persistent.

  
"You transformed... We're in my bedroom... I'm here with you." Hux ran a hand through the beast's hair. "Are you alright? Here, come sit on the bed..."

  
Ren obeyed, shakily standing and crawling onto the bed, where Hux joined him, his eyebrows knitted with worry.

  
"What happened?" he asked carefully.

  
Ren shook his head, glancing at the note on the floor warily. "I don't know... I was- I found the note in your pants and read it. I think-... I don't know, I heard screaming and crying and-..." he shuddered violently, shaking his head.

  
" _Shhh_... You're alright... Lay back..." Hux gently helped the beast settle down against the pillows, pushing off the excess blankets to keep Ren from getting too hot.

   
"H-Hux-...you're bleeding!" Ren swallowed heavily, feeling a pang of guilt.

  
Hux looked down at his chest, but tried to shrug it off, not wanting to upset Ren further. "It's fine... I've had worse. Now take a deep breath."

  
Ren did, focusing on Hux's eyes again. He could feel himself finding his composure and he carefully closed his eyes. His fur receded, body slowly shifting back into its human state. When he opened his eyes again, they were their usual dark brown once more.

  
"...Thank you... I don't know what came over me. And- and I didn't mean to go nosing through your things... I only-"

  
"It's fine. It's not even my writing. I found it hidden away in the desk. It was strange..." He raised an eyebrow at Ren. "Would you happen to know anything about it?"

  
Ren shook his head slowly his eyes falling on the wound on the other man's chest. "I don't know who wrote it or who it was supposed to belong to..." his voice sounded absent.

  
Hux thought for a moment. So Ren obviously didn't write it, but why did he react so strongly to it? And the two handwritings were vastly different, one calm and persistent, the other heavy handed and urgent. He glanced down at Ren, who was still staring at his bleeding chest.

  
"Hey. _Ren_." Hux snapped. "Are you going to be alright?"

  
"You're bleeding... I can smell it..." He leaned closer, his mind slowly forgetting the episode. "....It smells so good..."

  
Hux narrowed his eyes. "When did you last eat? If you need to, you can- _Ren!_ " He jumped a bit as the other man leaned in with hazy eyes and licked a stripe up the seeping wound. The skin on his neck prickled. "R-Ren... That's not sanitary at all! That's-... _fuck-_ " Hux swallowed heavily as Ren began lapping at his chest, feeling a throb under his towel at the sense of danger.

  
"Mmmn... Hux... you taste so good..." he inhaled the scent, the blood mingling with Hux's skin, light and clean from his shower, warm under his tongue as a blush spread down Hux's front, only adding to the faint redness from his fading sunburn. 

  
"Ren-.. I- _ohh..._ Maybe we shouldn't... I mean- you're human now, but-" He could hear himself ranting, verbalizing his argument to himself as the other man ravished his chest with licks and sucks. "W-wait-..." Hux grabbed a fistful of Ren's hair and gently pulled him up to look at him. "Listen... We can do this, but we're going to do it in a way where I can pace us... Last time, I finished in about two minutes, and I can already tell it will happen again with how desperate you are right now." His grip eased and he caressed Ren's cheek. "I want you to feel good too... Do you trust me?"

  
Ren licked his bloodied lips, nodding. "Yes... Teach me... I want to feel good..."

  
"Good boy... On your back, then." He dragged his thumb down Ren's bottom lip, smiling. "And no turning into an animal while you're inside me..."

  
"In-...Inside?" Ren had shifted to laying on his back, his arms nervously resting by his sides.

  
Hux saw his nervous demeanor, and couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy himself. He had only ever done this a handful of times when he was away at school, back before he found a career and became too busy for such a thing. If only his father could see him now, he thought. He had never told Brendol Hux Sr. of his preference towards men, knowing the older man's views on such things were strongly negative. And now here he was, about to have sex with one-not even a normal man- right here in his late father's estate.

  
He almost smirked at the idea as he pulled down Ren's sweatpants, but suddenly lost all train of thought as the other man's cock bobbed helplessly, already quite hard, from the confides of the fabric. He was big enough flaccid, but even more so now, and Hux felt his face grow warm. Precome glistened at the slit, and Ren swallowed nervously. 

  
"Is everything alright, Hux? I- _o-oh_... Oh... _Hux_..." he clenched the bed sheets as Hux tongued the slit, biting his lip to hold back a moan.

  
Hux teased and worked at the shaft, taking more and more of the swollen length into his mouth with each bob of his head, stroking the shaft in the wake of his licks and sucks. Ren fell into a mess of pants and whines, resisting the urge to rut into Hux's mouth, trying to remember to let him set the pace.

Hux grew harder and harder under the towel, which he eventually stripped himself of, gently tugging at his own length as he continued sucking Ren's. The larger man's moans, the lewd sounds of slickened spit and precome, and the prospect of his fantasy of fucking Ren coming true all causing his throbbing length to twitch in his grasp. Ren's broken voice pulled him from his thoughts.

  
"I'm-... I think-... something's happening-!!!" Ren groaned and bucked his hips

  
Hux pulled his mouth off of Ren, his lips shiny with precome and saliva. He tugged hard on the swollen cock, abandoning his own long enough to massage Ren's balls.

  
"That's it... Good boy, come for me..."

  
"I- I'm--aaa- _aaaahh!!_ " Ren's muscles seized as he finished hard, the come practically gushing from him.

  
Hux cupped his hand over the thick head of Ren's dick, catching the heavy spurts until they subsided. " _Jesus_... when is the last time you had an orgasm?"

  
Ren spoke through labored breathing. "I... I don't know... It's been awhile..."

  
"Well, I'm going to make you do it again..." Hux's voice was slurred with arousal as he crawled onto the bed bending over and laying his head on the pillow next to Ren, his ass in the air as he carefully brought the hand holding the come to the crease of it. He moaned low in his throat as he dripped it over the crevice of it, feeling the come slide down over his hole, down his perineum and off of his balls. It was dripping on the bed, but he was too aroused to care, too intent on having Ren to himself, the laundry needed doing anyways...

  
He slid his fingers over his entrance, gently massaging the tight ring of muscle, using Ren's come to aid him. His eyes here glazed with lust, Ren shifted, turning to face him, staring at him in awe.

  
With a heavy swallow, he pushed in one come coated finger, biting his lip and whining.

  
"Gods, Hux..." Ren's voice was breathless as he watched the erotic display next to him, his dick already swelling with arousal again.

  
"Mmn... I need to get myself ready for that massive cock..." A smile played at the corners of his mouth as he pushed deeper into himself, curling his finger before pulling it back out, pushing back in, his pace agonizingly slow.

  
Hux braced himself and added another finger. His breath hitched in his chest as he scissored his fingers, stretching his tight entrance. He cried out with a muffled "Ahh~!" as he pressed against his prostate, his cock jumping and drooling precome as Ren watched, hungrily.

  
"Sp-Spread your legs, Ren..." He pulled his fingers out and sat up.

  
Ren was compliant, turning onto his back again and stretching his legs out. Hux shifted over and straddled him, tugging on his cock again and making sure it was hard enough for him. He felt around, lining it up with his come coated entrance, gazing down at Ren as he lowered himself down.

  
"O-.. _oh_..." He felt the head start to push into him and he tossed his head back. His hand was shaking with pleasure and anticipation as he held onto Ren's cock, lowering himself more and more, moaning in ecstasy at being so filled. His dick jerked helplessly as he bottomed out. Ren had never felt this sensation in his life. Hux was so warm, so slick for him. He clenched around Ren when he was fully seated and Ren brought his hands forward to grip Hux's thighs.

  
"Nhh-... oh Hux... You're so tight..." Ren breathed.

  
"I'm going to start moving now, Ren... Be a good boy and move with me..." Hux positioned his knees to help him move up and down. He started slow, breathing steadily as he rutted against Ren, who was groaning beneath him, pressing up into him, the velvety heat intoxicating. He drew almost completely out before Hux dropped back down on him. 

Hux rode him hard, marveling at the sounds of Ren panting and moaning, his balls slapping hard on his ass, the way their bodies melded together with each glorious thrust.  
The pace grew faster, and Hux finally cried out as Ren hit his prostate, his precome smearing and paiting Ren's stomach with each thrust. Ren could feel something primal growing in him.  
Hux began to grind against him, reaching down and stroking his own heavy member, massaging his swollen balls as he rode him with reckless abandon, unable to think of any other sexual encounter in his life that felt as good as this.

He didn't see that Ren was transforming below him, Ren hardly noticing himself, too lost in his pleasure to feel the fur sprouting from his greying skin, his claws lengthening.

   
" _Aaaah_ -!!! Oh fuck, Ren!! _Yes!!!_ " Hux felt his release coming close as Ren's claws dug into his thighs.

  
Ren suddenly snarled and forced himself up, shoving Hux down and pinning him to the bed, pulling out almost completely. Hux opened his eyes, dazed, but turned on from Ren being so rough. When he saw the beast instead of human Ren, his eyes widened, but feeling so helpless and at mercy of the animal brought him even closer to the brink of coming, those glowing, amber eyes gazing so deeply into his.

  
Ren thrusted back into Hux's tight heat and the smaller man let out a cry of pain. Ren's member was much longer now, and his body clenched around him, trying to adjust to the girth. As he thrusted into Hux, Hux could feel something at the base of the beast's member.

  
"R-Ren, Are you- What is-..." he couldn't see the knot that had formed at the base of the beast's cock, pushing against his hole with every jut of Ren's hips.  
Ren devolved into feral groans and grunts as he rammed into Hux. He drew back completely, and pushed in hard, his knot tearing through the ring of muscle as he came hard with a howl. 

  
"Ren, s-slow down-!! I- Ahh- _AAAAUUUGGGHHH!!!!!!"_  Hux nearly screamed himself hoarse as he felt the knot push into him, felt the cum pulse from Ren, practically coating his insides. He could feel his body desperately throbbing around the knot. His arousal spiked hard and he came as well with a guttural wail, untouched, his releasing warm on his stomach. He clawed at Ren's back, the pain tearing through him, his insides on fire from the knot and the beast's come, the agony was horrible, but the pleasure he derived from it was unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. Once the beast felt the last waves of his release, he tried to pull out, but both he and Hux cried out.

  
"ah-F- ** _FUCK!!_** What did you- What's _in_ me, Ren?!?!" Hux breathed.

  
"It's-.. It's something that happens- when I'm like this... I get this thing at the base of my-... _Nnh-!!"_  Ren tried to pull out again, but couldn't. He gently lowered himself onto Hux, holding him close, his breathing heavy.

  
Hux wrapped his legs around him. "Bloody _fuck-_... It needs to come out-.. I can't have your cock up my ass forever..."

  
"It'll go away eventually... It always gets big when I-... you know... but then it shrinks after I come..." The beast inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to regain his composure. He licked up Hux's neck, nipping at his jawbone. "That was-... That was amazing, Hux..."

  
Hux swallowed heavily, his ass still stinging, but the prospect of it all, admittedly, turning him on more than he'd ever tell anyone.

  
"I thought I told you not to transform... _Christ_ , you're massive..." He shifted a bit under Ren's weight, his voice still slurred with arousal, yet affectionate. "I can feel your come inside of me... You filthy thing..."

  
Ren could feel the knot deflating and he found Hux's soft lips, meeting them with his and kissing him gently as he pulled his dick free.

  
"mmm-a _AAH!!"_ Hux moaned into the kiss, breaking away as he felt Ren's come spill from his ass. "Jesus... There's so much of it...This bedding is being washed right away..."

  
The beast gently pushed himself next to him on the bed and carefully rested his clawed hands on Hux.

  
"So...That was mating?" he asked lazily.

  
"Sex. Humans call it sex..."

  
"But I'm not human, am I?" Ren smiled warmly as he caressed Hux's stomach, tracing a claw through the release splattered there.

  
"Not like any human I've met before... Mmnnn.. But you're amazing, Ren." he turned gently brushing Ren's hair behind his pointed ear. He ignored the looming feeling in the pit of his stomach, almost dread, unsure of where it was coming from...

   
Ren shuddered as suddenly he returned to normal, his fur shrank away once more, claws and fangs shrinking, and eyes darkening. He wasn't as nervous holding Hux like this, so he pulled him closer, burying his face in his hair and breathing in his scent, no longer thinking of the note, the home he would soon lose, or the real monsters lurking in the trees outside.

  
In this moment, entwined with Hux, the creature felt peace, and he clung to it as tightly as he could...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew. That was fun, right?  
> I'll be uploading an accompanying sketch to this chapter on my tumblr!   
> Check it out (Also I've uploaded a lovely little sketch of werewolf!Ren concept art for this fic) so go check it out!  
> Werewolf-kylo-ren.tumblr.com  
> Thanks for reading and I always appreciate your feedback!


	7. Letters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux is drunk (again), Ren wants to enjoy some sort of afterglow  
> And we finally start to put things together...

Ren hadn't realized he'd fallen asleep next to Hux, only remembering the feeling of the other man's hands brushing through his thick hair before he dozed off. He sat up and looked around, disoriented for a moment. Ren was still naked and in bed, but had a clean blanket put over him. Hux was nowhere to be found, but Ren could hear the sound of rummaging downstairs. He stood and stretched, not realizing how nice sleeping in an actual bed could make him feel.

  
Ren stepped into the bathroom, the scent of Hux's soap was fresh. He must have already showered again after what had transpired. His face warmed as he remembered, hoping deep down that Hux wasn't mad at him over it this time. He gingerly turned the water on, eyeing the different knobs, one marked with blue, one with red. Ren carefully turned them both, awed at how it made the water temperature change. He adjusted it carefully until it was warm and stepped in. It was a simple thing, yet Ren had never experienced the luxury of the muscle and tension easing quality of a warm shower. He was far more used to swimming in the nearby lake and grooming himself as needed.

  
As he stepped out, he grabbed a towel that smelled like Hux, recognizing it as the one he was wrapped up in earlier, and shook himself off before awkwardly brushing it over his skin, trying to soak up as much water as he could, carefully blotting the soft fabric around his stitched wound, before wrapping himself up in it. When he stepped out of the bathroom, he nearly ran into Hux, who was dressed in pants, a sweater and undershirt, his hair a bit disheveled.

  
"Ren, there you are..."

  
"I was only bathing- you said I should-should do it more regularly... and after- after what happened..." He shifted uncomfortably, smelling the familiar scent of Whiskey on Hux.

  
Hux began stripping the bed, his face reddened beyond his sunburn again, speech slightly slurred. "Well, I'm not mad at you or anything..."

  
Ren felt a balloon of worry deflate in his stomach. "Oh..."

  
There was an awkward silence between them as Hux gathered the rest of the dirty laundry, including Ren's sweatpants, and balled it up in the soiled bedsheets. He left the room and Ren followed him down the stairs to an old washing machine, watching him intently as he sorted the clothes into color coded piles and started a load. As the water began pouring over the dirty clothes in the wash, Hux went to the kitchen, grabbing a familiar glass bottle from the counter as he went. It was almost empty.

  
Hux called to him from the kitchen, his tone casual. "...Why don't you go and hunt or something? It's a bit awkward having you follow me around like a sad dog... I've just been sorting through things like usual."

  
"Are we okay?" Ren blurted out more abruptly than he meant to.

  
After a moment of silence, and a heavy gulp, Hux returned, wiping his mouth. He glanced at Ren, thinking carefully before he spoke. "It's not "we", Ren... It's not like we're-... You're speaking as if we're in a relationship or something... We just sort of found ourselves in a situation where-..." He thought for another moment. "We both just got lost in the moment and-"

  
"Mated." Ren nodded. "...We mated... That means we're mates."

  
"No." Hux kept his voice firm as he closed the lid to the washer. "We had sex. We're not-... I'm not an animal. I don't know how it works with," He gestured to Ren, "but to humans, sex can just be a casual affair..."

  
"But I'm not a human... And what we did-... "Sex"... It's not just casual for werewolves... Especially since we tied..."

  
"We _what?"_ Hux pulled off his sweater, fanned himself with his undershirt, and started towards the old desk, where a stack of papers was waiting, half sorted.

  
"When we-... When I-..." Ren halfheartedly shrugged. "...When I marked you... You know-... The part at the end..." His knowledge of how pack tradition worked was limited, but he was aware of how his kind chose their mates, how important tieing was.

  
Hux sat and grimaced up at the taller man. "I didn't ask for your bloody dog knot in my ass... and I'll have you know it's still sore from that, you miserable beast... But just because your anatomy changed a bit during sex doesn't mean we're mates." He sniffed and continued sorting. "Now no more. We fucked, it felt good, that's all."

  
Ren stood for a moment, watching him. The familiar scent was overwhelming him, acrid in his nostrils. When he spoke again, his voice was solemn. "...humans are strange. You're sad creatures..."

  
Hux didn't look up at him, his tone was short. "Not as sad as someone who lives in an old cellar by himself, you know..."

  
"But you are sad... I can sense it in you. I've been able to since I first met you, and it only keeps getting worse..." Ren watched him carefully.

  
Hux's hands stopped.

  
"Is it because your father died? Is it because he killed himself?" He stepped closer. "You blame yourself for it..."

  
"Shut up." Hux still refused to look up, a sick feeling in his stomach.

    
"You blame yourself for it because you feel like you could have stopped it if you were closer..." Ren didn't speak with animosity, only sympathy. "If you had done one little thing different, you could have stopped him from killing himself... That's why you busy yourself in here. That's why you drank that strange drink and you mated with me, you want to distract yourself because deep down, you blame yourself. I think that's why you're so sad..."

  
"I said shut UP!" Hux slammed his fist on the desk, causing a stack of papers to fall to the floor, scattering. He stood, storming towards Ren, who looked taken aback.

  
"....I didn't mean-"

  
Hux held up a finger. "First of all, you don't fucking know me! You don't know my family! Hell, you don't even _have_ a family, so how the hell would you know anything about a family?! You-... you just show up like a pathetic animal! No- You don't even show up! Your sorry ass has been sleeping under the floor boards this whole time!" His words were venom, seeping into Ren and making him sick. "You're nothing! You're nothing but a decent fuck, a naïve little shit!"

  
Ren stepped back, swallowing heavily, the beginnings of tears in his eyes.

  
"You sleep on a pile of fucking leaves with your strange, ruddy, serial killer workshop down there! Your mess! Bones in your fucking bed and a sadistic newspaper clipping under your bed! You're pathetic!"

  
"H-Hux..." His voice cracked. "I-... That newspaper is-"

  
"Get out, Ren." His voice was cold, eyes bloodshot. "You need to leave. Now."

  
Ren's eyes widened. "...Wait... Wait, I'm sorry... I only said it because-"

  
"I said now, Ren!" Hux pointed to the back door.

  
"Please, Hux! You're-.. This house is all I have! Please! I don't belong out there! They'll-... They'll kill me! The cellar is the only place I can hide!" He nervously clenched his fists. "I didn't mean to upset you! I swear, I didn't-"

  
"NOW, you fucking dog! Get out!" Hux marched forward and shoved past Ren hard. He tore the towel off of him as he passed and went to one of the sorted piles of laundry, throwing him the pair of bloodied sweatpants. "Go!"

  
Ren bit his lip and put them on in a hurry before rushing out of the back, jumping down off of the back porch, and hurrying to the cellar. He tore the makeshift door off and went to his bed, frantically digging through the leaves and bones and grabbing the newspaper. He held it close to him, before carefully folding it and shoving it into his pocket. He left without replacing the door and went to the edge of the trees, giving one last look to the estate before running into the woods, the thick trees quickly causing the estate to disappear from view.

  
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

  
Hux watched Ren rush into the woods and cursed under his breath, locking the door and storming back to the kitchen, picking up the now empty bottle of whiskey. He didn't realize just how much of it he'd drank.

  
_Stupid, fucking Ren..._

  
He wouldn't know anything about what Hux was going through. He had never known his parents, he was just... there. Just a useless, fucking wolfman. Hux trudged back to the desk and sat heavily, feeling quite drunk. He continued sifting through papers, intent on forgetting about everything that had just happened, the sick feeling gnawing away at his gut, only enhanced by how quiet the house felt again.

  
Thunder rumbled in the distance, a summer storm brewing. He stood, rubbing a hand through his messy hair as he went to the back window. Dark clouds were looming in the sky, rolling in over the treetops, threatening in the distance. Hux sighed as he watched them.

  
He had blamed himself....

  
He had blamed himself for so much. The estate was stifling him with more than just the stagnant air and dust... Seeing the old reminders of what life was like before... His mother's hand sewn blankets, the liquor cabinet, the living room he'd spent so much time in these past few days... Hux obviously knew he could never go back to how it was before. He had stubbornly reminded himself over and over through the years that he shouldn't dwell in the past and wonder how things could have been, especially based on a decision he could have made differently. He strived to live in the present, promising himself he wouldn't make similar mistakes. The same mistakes that had made his family fall apart...

  
Hux groaned and sat on the old sofa, dust dispersing as he did. He shouldn't have run Ren off. Here he was, mirroring his father, drinking to feel better and pushing people away with his anger. Another rumble of thunder caught his attention. He turned and watched a steady shower begin to fall outside, the fat rain drops heavy on the roof of the old house.

  
Hux felt an overwhelming sense of guilt, imagining Ren out in the rain, like some displaced, sad hound. He shook his head.

  
"He's not my fucking pet. Not my responsibility." He muttered to himself.

  
He stood and went to the desk, knowing that he could easily busy his mind again with the mess. Hux leaned down, picking up the stack of papers that had fallen in his outburst earlier, but he suddenly stopped. The folder he'd unearthed from the desk a few days prior was under the papers, its contents scattered. He had only flipped through it briefly, too distracted with talking to Ren at the time to really notice what it contained.

  
There were several letters. Correspondences between what appeared to be his father and a handful of other people. He read a couple of them.

  
_"June 4, 89_

  
_Brendol,_

  
_All in all, I'd say it was very successful. It was a shame you couldn't join us, but of course we completely understand with the Mrs. expecting and all (congrats!)_   
_We're looking forward to when you can join us again!"_

  
Hux narrowed his eyes at the date. His mother was pregnant with him then... He found another, obviously from another person.

  
_"Sept. 18, 90_

  
_Mr. Brendol,_

  
_He's amazing! We loved the pictures you sent us. Soon enough, he'll be able to start coming with us!_   
_Speaking of, we took down four two days ago. One of them was massive. Obviously an alpha. He put up quite a fight, but you can't go up against silver, don't care how big you are!"_

  
Hux felt an odd stirring in his chest. He slowly began to realize what this was, despite his inebriation still making his head fuzzy. He read more, their content all similar, vague, but Hux started coming to a horrible conclusion; his father was a part of some sort of group that killed werewolves. And judging from these letters, they killed a lot of them. A clap of thunder made him jump and something fell from the folder. He picked it up with shaking hands.

  
It was old, its edges tattered, but there was no mistaking it...

  
It was a photograph of a small toddler in dirtied play clothes. His hair was a mess of dark, disheveled curls that fell over his doleful, brown eyes. Hux turned it around. On the back, written in familiar, neat handwriting;

  
**_"Ben, 1992"_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh! I hope you're all enjoying the story! It's starting to come together!   
> All feedback is immensely appreciated!   
> Like always, feel free to follow me on tumblr! It's shameless kylux content, but I upload art there as well! (Including concept art for this story!)  
> Werewolf-kylo-ren.tumblr.com


	8. Afraid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaauuuggghhh I'm sorry I haven't updated in awhile! Life has been stressful as hell, but hopefully I'll be regular again!!!
> 
> Hux feels remorse, there's more than Ren hiding in the woods, and Ren's day just keeps getting worse...

Hux's mind was reeling. He couldn't focus, cursing himself for indulging in his father's whiskey. The rain fell harder, the living room growing darker as night began to fall behind the thick, churning overcast outside. Hux went to the window, biting his lip, knowing that Ren was still somewhere out there... and that he was undoubtedly the little boy in the photograph. The little boy in the newspaper clipping.

  
_Ben._

  
His name was Ben...

  
Hux turned, hurrying up the stairs to his room, where he found his pair of boots and pulled them on, lacing them up with shaking fingers. He ignored the wind and rain lashing at the windows as he clambered back down the steps to retrieve his sweater and grab a flashlight from the kitchen drawer, testing it to make sure it worked. It was old and dim, but it would do. He started opening the door, but the wind shoved it open, nearly knocking him over. Hux stepped out and struggled to close it behind him, before starting towards the line of trees, the light from the flashlight illuminating the fat drops of rain in front of him.

  
" _REN!!!_ REN, WHERE ARE YOU?!?!" He felt his voice carried away with the wind as he pushed through the brush. The rain soaked him, chilling him to the bone as he searched in the darkness for those bright eyes. Surely Ren was in his beast form at this point...

  
Hux jumped as a flash of lightning illuminated the trees around him, casting ominous shadows on each other, the clap of thunder following was deafening.

  
"REEENNNNNN!!!"

The rain fell in heavy drops, collected on the leaves of the towering trees as he pressed on further into the woods. Hux heard movement, shining his flashlight in the direction of it, his heart racing.

  
"...Ren? ...Ren, is that you?" The movement ceased and there was nothing. Hux shivered and continued marching on, trying to be aware of his surroundings, the storm raging on around him.

  
His stomach lurched as he saw orbs reflected in the shine of his flashlight, followed by more rustling. Hux knew better than to pursue whatever it was, even if it was Ren. Returning to look in the morning when it was light out and, most likely, not raining started sounding more and more tempting...

  
Hux began to turn away, when there was a bright flash of lightning. The world around him seemed to spin, his stomach lurching as, in the brief illumination, he saw it. A massive beast, almost three times the size of Ren, completely covered in dark, matted, wet fur, a twisted, bipedal wolf, it's fangs shining with saliva, eyes on fire as it bristled, snarling, and lunged at him. Hux shouted and scrambled to find his footing, his heart pounding in his ears, feet nearly tripping in the muddy underbrush. The wolf slashed at him, narrowly missing his legs and Hux's adrenaline kicked in, his mind screaming at him to run. Run as fast as he could.

  
Get back to the house. _Now._

  
He darted through the trees, hearing the heavy thud of massive paws behind him, comparable to a horse galloping. Hux could feel hot breath on his neck and he swung back blindly, bringing the heavy flashlight back, hearing a sickening crunch and a yelp. He had managed to strike the beast somewhere and prayed it was enough to disable it, at least temporarily. He tried to navigate through the sheets of rain, through the dark trees, his lungs feeling like they would burst from the cold air of the storm. Hux could feel himself slip further and further into the disadvantage of the situation, the feeling of helplessness horribly familiar...

  
As he ducked under low hanging branches and foliage, he was hit with a familiar pang of guilt...

The feeling of not being in control, of not being able to fix what he always blamed himself for breaking.

  
It was the same feeling he got when his mother left. The same feeling he got when he received the call about his father.

  
And it was the same feeling he got which led him out here.

Pushing Ren away. Kicking him out of the only home he'd ever known because of something trivial. Something stupid, and only because he was drunk.

  
Hux was pulled from his thoughts as he heard the snarling behind him again. So loud, he could hear it over the thunder. Over the wind and rain.

  
" _FUCK-!!!"_   Massive, clawed hands collided with his back, and the wind was knocked out of him as he was tackled to the muddy ground, his flashlight flying out of his reach and illuminating the creature above him just enough so he could see it's horrible face in detail.

  
Scars dug deep into its muzzle, lips raised and quivering as it dug Hux's wrists into the ground, pinning him down without any hope of release. It growled deep in its chest as it's massive, shaggy head lowered, its glistening fangs inching closer to his jugular.

  
Hux squeezed his eyes shut, time seemed frozen around him. This was it... This was how he died. He numbly thought of who would discover him... Maybe the massive creature would just devour him... Leave nothing behind...

  
At least no one would have to receive a call...

  
No one would feel remorse or guilt over his death...

  
Except...

  
The beast reared its head back, baring its teeth and preparing to finish it. Hux took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

  
" _I'm sorry, Ren..."_ he breathed.

  
It was dark, and he could still hear the storm around him. The rain fell in heavy drops on his face. Hux blinked his eyes open when he felt something cold on his chest, heard loud, persistent sniffs. The massive wolf still had him pinned, but was seemingly distracted, it's wet nose pressed against his chest, smelling feverishly.   
It was the raked skin Ren had clawed him earlier... The wolf was breathing in the scent of the blood, mingling with the rain soaked sweater. Hux swallowed heavily, knowing that there was no use in playing dead, no way to overpower this beast.   
The wolf growled deep again, lifting his head and bearing his teeth, glowering down at Hux, almost studying him...

In a swift movement, he brought his head down, digging his fangs into Hux's shoulder.

  
Hux screamed and writhed below the wolf, kicking and trying to get away. A warmth surged below the gaping maw of the wolf's mouth, hot, sticky blood oozing between his teeth and staining the shredded fabric of Hux's sweater.

  
Hux wailed as he struggled underneath him, the warmth spreading in his chest, he turned and saw the corners of the wolf's mouth curling into what looked horribly like a grin. Satisfaction. His chest heaved as he looked up, simply waiting for death, the rain spattering on his face. He felt his body growing cold now.

  
This must be it...

  
Suddenly, he heard another snarl and felt weightless, his arms freed. The corners of his vision blurred as he blankly stared up, a commotion next to him... but it sounded so far away. Using all the strength he could muster, he lolled his head to the side. Hux's heart nearly skipped a beat when he realized what had happened.  
The wolf had been tackled from him and was locked in a ferocious confrontation with-

  
"R-...Ren..." Hux whispered.

  
The lanky, grey form was unmistakable. Despite Ren's size and built, he was still tiny compared to the horrible beast, and was easily being overtaken by him.

  
Hux's eyes widened and his stomach seized as he saw the massive wolf rear up and smash into Ren, the smaller beast yelped and stumbled back. Hux sat up, wincing in pain, his vision doubling.

  
"R-Ren!!! REN!!" Hux struggled to his hands and knees. He had to help. There was no way Ren could fight off the wolf alone. He tried to steady his breathing, tried to ignore the pain radiating from his wound. He cursed as his vision began to fade again.

  
Warm... Everything was warm again, burning...

  
He felt his elbows give out and he fell forward into the mud, losing consciousness.

  
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

  
Ren heard Hux's voice and turned to him, his heart pounding. He was alive... He had to be alive...

  
For now at least, he was alive.

  
In his moment of distraction, the alpha wolf lunged at him again, tackling him to his stomach and bringing his jaws dangerously close to his neck.

  
"Filthy, fucking _halfbreed_!!!" it snarled.

  
Ren struggled underneath the alpha's weight, growling and kicking at him. He whimpered as the massive wolf brought his giant, clawed hand down onto the side of Ren's face, pushing his head into the mud.

  
"Look at you... Desperate as ever... You can't run with the wolves, so you find yourself a little human..." He snorted mockingly. "You've even got human pants on... How cute..."

  
Ren closed an eye against the mud and grit his teeth, the wolf pressing his head down further.

  
"You're not one of us. You'll  _never_ be one of us, "Ren"." The wolf snarled and glared at Hux's lifeless form. "I smelled you on him, you filthy mutt..." he brought his head closer to Ren's ear again. "You mated with him. _TIED_ with him. With a _human_. And now you're trying to defend him?"

  
"H-..H-he's-.." Ren coughed and sputtered.

  
"He's mine now, half breed. I marked him... Soon, he'll be one of us. A _real_ werewolf." The wolf growled, amused. "And then I'll take him for myself. Hell, I may pass him around, let the pack have their way with him. And once again... you will be alone. As a monster like you should be."

  
His words felt like a venom in Ren's body, causing his blood to turn cold, his stomach to feel sick...

  
Ren struggled against him, weakly. "P-..please-.. d-...please don't..."

  
The wolf raised his proud head. "In the meantime, I suppose I'll have to give you another reminder not to meddle." He snarled and raked his claws down the exposed side of Ren's face, tearing through his grey, muddied features. Ren howled in pain, squirming below him.

  
The wolf released his grip on Ren and snorted at Hux's figure, before charging off into the trees again, his thunderous footfalls fading.

  
Ren was still for awhile, blankly staring ahead, only half aware of the rain slowing around him, the wind finally calming. The sky was lightening around them with the pale blue of the approaching dawn. He could feel the blood oozing down his torn face, mingling with the mud, blinding his one, exposed eye. He could feel it stinging and he tried to blink it out, and as the rain slowly ceased, he curled up and cried softly, his body sore and his face hot, swollen, and bloody.

  
He shuddered as dawn finally came and he began to change back, his fur fading away, claws and fangs shrinking, leaving him feeling, somehow, more vulnerable than before.

  
Halfbreed... _Halfbreed...._

  
Ren heard it over and over in his head, like a twisted mantra...

  
His glazed stare found Hux. Suddenly, he didn't feel as numb. Instead, he felt a sudden meaning. Ren shakily pushed himself up from the bloodied mud and crawled towards Hux's unconscious body, his stomach churning as he saw the deep punctures in the other man's shoulder. Hux's breathing was shallow and shaky, and he groaned as Ren carefully lifted him up, holding him in his trembling arms.

  
Ren winced as he steadied himself, blood still dripping down his face as he began to trudge back towards the house, easily finding the worn path unseen by Hux in his searching; the same path little Ben had walked all these years to find solace in the cellar of the old estate.

  
In this moment, Ren felt just as small and afraid...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for keeping up! I hope you're all enjoying!  
> Find me on tumblr! Werewolf-kylo-ren.tumblr.com (Contains nsfw works!)   
> I'm working on more art to accompany this piece!


	9. Wounds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit! Almost a year later and I finally update! I'm sorry for my super long hiatus. School was killer this year, but I took the summer off and am trying to become more active again! Thanks for holding out!

It was dark.

All he could hear were quiet whimpers, frantic whispering. His body was warm... so warm... He was hungry, starving... The whimpering grew clearer, louder. In the darkness, there were eyes, amber and hungry, searching. They finally met his, the pupils shrinking and focused. A horrible moment of tension passed before they lunged towards him.

Hux cried out and sat up, covered in a sheen of sweat, the sensation of a hot poker being pressed to his shoulder slowly faded as the room around him spun into focus. After a moment of delirium, he realized he was in the old estate bedroom, wearing only a pair of slightly damp underwear and two patches of gauze crudely taped to his shoulder. He wiped his face, rubbing a sheen of sweat from his brow. The events that preceded waking up in this quiet room suddenly began to come back... Ren was gone... There was rain... a storm, those horrible eyes... His shoulder ached as he remembered the beast. Ren was attacked, and then-

"...Ren..." Hux shook his head and carefully slid out of bed. He had to find Ren. As he stepped towards the door, his heart started to beat harder. He raised his voice. "Ren?!"

Hux heard a meek groan, followed by the sound of the bathroom door opposite him closing. He turned and stepped towards it quietly, listening intently.

"....Ren, is that you?" He was only faintly aware of the loud beating in his chest. When he spoke again, his tone was firm. "Ren. Open the damn door."

"Please go away... Just-... Just go downstairs and lay down..." Ren's voice was shaky.

Hux almost rolled his eyes. "Open it. I need to see you."

It was true... When he saw Ren overtaken by the massive creature, he thought the childish wolfman was a goner.

Ren didn't speak again, but Hux heard the door unlatch. He carefully pushed it open and stepped into the small bathroom. Drops of blood littered the floor, some dried, some fresh. Ren hurried back to where he’d been sitting on the edge of the bathtub. He was still covered in mud and blood, in his ridiculous sweatpants as usual, and he kept his head down, his shaggy hair in his face.

Hux gently approached him, crouching down. Ren turned away, and Hux remained patient. He kept his voice calm. "Ren... I'm glad you're alright..." Hux carefully placed a hand on Ren's trembling leg. "When that-... that giant thing attacked, I knew it was over... And when I saw you come to my aid... Well, I don't think I've ever felt a greater sense of relief than in that moment..."

Ren shook his head, still facing away. "...I was bad... I shouldn't have mated with you... I shouldn't have tied with you... None of this would have happened if I had just-... just stayed away."

Hux brushed his hand up and took one of Ren's, clasping it tightly. "No, Ren... I was bad. It was wrong of me to scold you for your words. I was acting just like my father used to when he would drink, and I hate myself for treating you like I did... For saying what I did." He shook his head. "I didn't mean any of it. Not a single word. You're a good person, Ren. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you."

Ren finally turned and Hux had to stifle a gasp and keep his composure. Four massive gashes were torn deep into his face, barely missing his eye, and the area around them was red and swollen.

Hux stood quickly. "Wait here, I'm going to get the supplies to stitch those up!" he turned to go, but Ren took his arm abruptly, stopping him.

"No... I'm leaving them like this."

"Don't be stupid, Ren." Hux said, shortly. "It looks horrible. You're going to get an infection."

"Then clean them out. But other than that, leave them be..." His eyes were almost pleading. "This is just a reminder to myself... When I feel like meddling with the purebreds again.... Well, I'll remember not to..." Ren glanced at Hux's shoulder. "But-... But you should go..."

Hux folded his arms. "I'm not leaving until I do what I must here, Ren. And you're not leaving at all. I've decided to let you stay here, for as long as you wish. Forever, if you need."

Ren looked up at him, an innocence and gratefulness in his eyes that mirrored a child’s. "...Hux, I-"

"No arguing." Hux gently placed a hand on the unscathed side of Ren's face. "You saved my life."

Ren suddenly looked away guiltily. "But I didn't... I was too late..."

"What do you mean?" Hux asked, but a familiar fear bubbled in his chest… A slow realization.

The other man stared solemnly at the gauze on Hux's shoulder. Hux swallowed heavily as he followed Ren's gaze, looking down at it as well. "...It infected me, didn't it?" he asked, shakily. "...That's why the beast didn't kill me... It could sense you on me..."

Ren nodded slowly, his eyes growing wet with his guilt. A couple of tears streaked down his injured face, mingling with the bloodied side. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, Hux..." He sniffed heavily and rubbed his eyes.

Hux bit his lip, his stomach clenching. "...Ren, I need to know what to expect..." He looked up at him. "When will it happen? What should I do? Bloody fuck, I didn't even know werewolves existed until a few days ago, and now-..."

"I'm sure it will happen tonight... I-... Well, I've been a werewolf for as long as I can remember... So I'm not sure when the infection starts..." Ren shook his head. "But luckily, you're-... You're a purebred werewolf... Not a half breed like me. So you'll actually turn into a wolf, not some... some weird thing like I do."

Hux stayed quiet, the whole situation still surreal to him. He never wanted any of this, never wanted to have to deal with the repercussions of his father's death as it was, let alone find himself practically adopting a childish wolfman on top of it, as well as turning into a werewolf himself. He yearned for before, when things like werewolves were only the objects of fantasy. Hux finally stood with a sigh, turning to the bathroom mirror and carefully peeling off the tape holding down the corners of the gauze.

Ren stood and lumbered behind him, staring into the mirror over Hux's shoulder, almost grimacing at his slashed face.

"Hux." He said, serious, yet sincere. "You're still my mate. And so it's my job to protect you... The alpha warned me of some things..."

"Like what?" Hux hissed in pain as he yanked the first strip of gauze off, the seepage from his wound causing it to stick. "That your "wolf husband" might start lifting his leg around the house?"

Ren's eyebrow twitched. "...I don't understand what you're-"

"Sarcasm, Ren... Go on, what'd he say?" Hux started on the second gauze.

"Well, he believes you'll join them... because you're purebred like they are. And-" He shifted uncomfortably. "...and he wants to claim you. He said that he might let them hand you around... Have their way with you..."

Hux yelped as he tore off the last piece of gauze and he looked at Ren in the mirror.

"Like hell they will. I'll change in the cellar, and I'll stay there with you. You're better at this than me, and you'll make sure I won't go anywhere. Can you do that for me?"

Ren processed this and nodded eagerly. "Yes. Yes, I can do this." After a moment of reluctance, he added, "...I just hope you're not as big as the alpha."

Hux nodded in agreement, picturing again how easily the massive wolf overtook Ren. Despite his smaller frame now, there’s no telling what would happen. Unfortunately, Ren didn't have the answers they needed, though his heart was in the right place. Hux almost shivered as he looked at the raw wound in the mirror, picturing Ren's transformation.

"...Does it hurt?" he asked quietly.

Ren gently rested his head on Hux's shoulder, glancing at the wound in the mirror as well. "...Yes. A little."

Hux bit his lip, a surge of nervousness washing over him, despite the comfort Ren’s sudden touch brought. He was so used to holding his fears and concerns back, always having to be the rational one. Practicality. Neatness. Being emotional never helped him survive his drunken father's outbursts, or the absence in the house after his mother left. Yet, in front of Ren, he found himself able to show it.

"...I'm afraid, Ren." Hux looked at the man's sullen eyes over his shoulder, looking past the gashes. "I'm-... Honestly, I was ready to die... I had almost accepted it, but then-... But then I just pictured you alone in this house. And I found myself-..." he trailed off.

Ren gently turned him around, placing his large hands on his shoulders. They felt so small... "I won't let anything happen to you. You're my mate, Hux, and I'll tear apart anyone that tries to take you from me."

Hux felt himself easing closer to Ren, glancing down at his lips, which were slightly parted, trembling softly as if he understood Hux's intentions. He gently pressed against them with his, kissing him gently. Ren almost recoiled at first, not fully understanding, but he slowly lowered his guard and returned it, almost hungrily, despite his childish lack of experience.

Hux felt a pang of arousal as he brushed his hands down Ren's chest, admiring his build, the curves and surprising softness of his skin. He suddenly became aware of an affection towards Ren that he couldn't explain, something he didn't feel until he saw the larger man for the first time since the attack.

"My mate..." he breathed. "...you're my mate..."

Ren groaned softly as he brushed his lips down Hux's neck, almost frantic.

"Yes... Yes, please... Take me as your mate" His hand had trailed down Hux's stomach and stopped at the waistband of his underwear, only hesitating for a moment before slipping under it and gently grasping Hux's length.

Hux nearly bucked into his touch, the sudden intrusion making his cock pulse with need. "B-...Ben-"

Ren stopped and withdrew his hand, stepping back and looking at Hux incredulously, almost insulted. "...wh-...what did you just say?"

Hux had been too lost in the moment to realize what he’d said. Instead, he blinked in confusion at Ren, his face still hot and flushed. “Why did you stop..? I won’t get mad at you this time, honest.”

Ren blinked, hesitating before he shook his head. “Sorry, I just-… I thought-… Nevermind. Uhm-“ He moved closer to Hux again, easing his hand down his pants to give the rapidly swelling length more attention. “Keep going…?”

Hux nodded, his breath catching in his throat as Ren began to gently pump him beneath his underwear. “ _Ah_ , Ren-… that’s- ah-…” He leaned into the other man, pressing his face into Ren’s chest.

Ren nearly purred as he worked at Hux, already feeling precome drooling softly from his slit and sliding messily over his fingers.

“Bloody- fuck-...” Hux impatiently shoved his underwear down, relieving the ache of his straining cock and granting Ren more room to stroke and pull at him.

Ren licked down Hux’s neck softly, grunting in encouragement. “My mate… please… Let me take care of you. I’ll take such good care of you…”

“Y-yes-… yes, _nh, please-_ …” Hux moaned in response, reaching a pitch he never had before in his neediness. This arousal was unlike any he’d ever experienced. Colors seemed sharper, scents were more prevalent and intoxicating. He could smell Ren’s musk and wanted to submit to him, wanted the other man to claim and fuck him. Just the thought of Ren pounding into him over and over made his balls draw up tight.

“R-Ren-… Ren, I think I’m already- a- _aaah!_ ” He keened loudly as he crested and pulsed wetly across the floor.

Ren kissed him deeply again, stifling his moans with fevered licks and sucks as he slowed his stroking.

Hux shuddered in his completion and blinked up at Ren. “Sorry, I normally… Normally I last a bit longer than that…”

Ren’s face was flushed and he smiled down at Hux. “I like making you do that. I like your noises…”

“….Ruddy dog…” Hux pushed him away, but with playful intent. He went to the suitcase and rummaged for clean underwear.

“We should eat and rest. Tonight will be… interesting.” Ren went to the bathroom to find something to clean Hux’s come off the floor.

Hux pulled on new underwear and pants. “Ah. First, we clean out that wound of yours.”

Ren groaned, but Hux cut him off, his voice stern. “None of that. You took care of me, let me take care of you.”

“But I made you come. There’s nothing pleasurable about cleaning an ugly scratch…” Ren cleaned the mess from the floor with tissue and discarded it before grudgingly, but obediently, sitting down on the edge of the tub.

Hux ran the sink water until it was warm and got to work on Ren’s wound, allowing himself a smile. “Be a good boy and you’ll get a reward.”

Ren winced as Hux gently washed the gashes, mumbling a half hearted “Hope so…”

What would transpire in the cellar tonight, the looming fear of the alpha, and the certainty that Hux had uttered _that_ name still hung over him like a rumbling thundercloud, but Ren sighed softly, allowing himself to, for now, stay in this moment with Hux.


	10. Hunted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter contains relatively graphic, dub-con sexual activities between two werewolves. If this is not for you, please heed these warnings!   
> Those of you sticking around, please enjoy! 
> 
> Hux's first transformation goes great, then not so great.

Hux held the small stack of his mother’s sewn blankets and quilts close to him as he carefully stepped down the cellar stairs. Ren followed closely with handfuls of pillows. They’d collected all the bedding they could find from the estate, minus what was on the master bed upstairs, and had spent most of the late afternoon bringing it down to the cellar. Hux had most of the leaves and bones out of the dark, dank room and replaced Ren’s sad bed with the unused pillows and blankets. When Ren positioned the last blanket over the fluffy mound, he surveyed the afternoon’s efforts, his face pleased.

“Well go on,” Hux nudged him. “Try it out.”

Ren approached the new bed and tentatively stepped into it before sitting. He traced over the blankets with his large hands and settled back onto his back with a grunt. “It’s so…. Comfortable.” He gingerly nuzzled his face into a covered pillow, making sure not to reopen his wounds Hux had bandaged for him. “Much more comfortable than leaves. And it smells nice. Like that stuff you put in with the dirty clothes.”

“Detergent. I made sure to wash everything so there wouldn’t be spiders and mold.” Hux allowed himself a small smile as Ren began circling the bed, much like a dog would. “And yes, this is much better than leaves and bones.”

Ren looked to the pane that covered the way outside. The last rays of the sun were shining through the cracks.

Hux followed his gaze, feeling a nervous swelling in his chest. “…I guess it’s almost time.”

Ren sat up, nodding solemnly. “We’ve eaten, so that’s good. It’s never a good idea to change when you’re hungry. We have everything we need here, I think.” He looked around. They’d cleaned it up. The workbench and safe were dusted and the floor was cleared. “Nothing dangerous for you to hurt yourself on.” He stared over at the safe.

Hux looked as well. An uncomfortable moment of silence passed between them before he spoke. “….Have you ever opened it?”

The silence stretched on impossibly longer. Hux began to wonder if Ren had even heard him, until the other man answered quietly.

“….No.” he said softly. “I was never allowed near it.”

“Never allowed?” Hux looked back to him. “By who? The other wolves? I thought they didn’t know about you hiding out down here.”

Ren shook his head somberly. “No, not them… By the man. Mr. Bren.”

Hux blinked slowly. “…”Bren”? Brendol? You mean my father?!” He went to Ren, who’d started nuzzling the pillow again. “Ren… You knew my father?”

He looked up at Hux, confused. “...I don’t know. Mr. Bren used to feed me scraps and sometimes let me have soft pillows like this one. I wasn’t allowed inside a lot. But sometimes he would let me. I’m not even entirely sure he lived here. He said this was no home of his, and he never really let me ask questions, so…” Ren trailed off with a light shrug.

“Ren, you have to tell me everything! I-… there’s no way that all this time my father was harboring a little wolf kid under the house!”

“Well, I only got to live under the house after it was quiet again.” Ren grunted as the bandage peeled off by accident, and he tried to unstick it from his fingers with a grimace.

“Quiet again?” Hux narrowed his eyes. Did Ren mean…? “You mean when it was only my father in the house?”

“There was never anyone else when I lived down here. No one else but Mr. Bren.” Ren watched dust dance through the sun rays that peeked in. “He never said he had a family. He smelled like you, now that I think about it… but only when you drink that nasty stuff.”

Hux ran a hand through his hair. Ren knew his father. Brendol must have kept him somewhere else when Hux and his mother were still around. But all those years when his father was here alone… he wasn’t truly alone, was he? “….why did he take you in? He didn’t like children, he barely tolerated me!”

Ren shrugged. “I don’t know… It’s hard for me to remember when he took me in. I remember him visiting me in the woods, and then one day he invited me to stay here. Before here, I lived in a cave, I think. I’ve tried to find it, but I’ve never been able to…”

Hux shook his head. “Ren, I need you to-“ But his words seemed to escape him. All of the air in his lungs did. He broke out in a cold sweat and his stomach churned. His skin suddenly felt warm and prickled like static coursing over him.

Ren seemed to sense what was happening and he stood and went to him. “Ah- here-… take off your clothes, it’ll be easier…” He fumbled with Hux’s shirt.

Hux groaned the prickling getting worse, especially on his neck and back, where ginger fur was beginning to sprout. “F-fuck-… what is-“ He struggled out of his shirt, the bitemark on his shoulder throbbing. This was it. It was happening. That horrible transformation he’d seen Ren go through so many times… “R=Ren, I’m- I’m frightened-“

Ren winced as his changes started as well. He stepped back from Hux so they wouldn’t hurt each other with their transformations. Ren knew how to ease into his as gently as he could. His fur sprouted and grew, his limbs lengthening and skin greying. By the time his tail sprouted and grew bushy, black fur, Hux was already on his hands and knees, groaning in agony.

“Oh- f-fuck- Fuck, Ren!!! Make it stop!” He wailed as his thin frame grew muscular, his shoulders broadening and sharp claws piercing through his fingertips, lifting his fingernails from their beds.

Ren, who’d finished his changing, rushed to Hux’s side, trying to keep his voice calm. “It’s alright. You’re going to be alright, Hux… I promise.” He gently stroked through the fur between Hux’s shoulders, which were covered in a sheen of sweat.

Hux tossed his head back, crying out. The worst of the shifting was happening. His face contorted into a muzzle and his teeth twisted into sharp points. His wails devolved into the agonized snarls of a beast. His limbs and back contorted until he stood on four paws, ripping his way out of his pants as a long, ginger tail thrashed from its confines.

Ren had clambered back to give him room as his thrashing turned violent, but he tentatively stepped closer as Hux settled, his ragged panting echoing around the cellar bathed in the moonlight that crept in from outside.

Hux was much larger than Ren. His frame was broad, his coat thick, red and shiny, but the wolf’s eyes were a shining amber, much like Ren’s. They settled on the halfbreed and a quiet growl emitted from his chest.

Ren shifted nervously, stepping back and lowering his head respectfully, his instincts taking over for the formal meeting of Hux’s wolf. The beast approached him, sniffing experimentally, the air was tense in suspense and Ren found himself shivering a bit with his nerves.

_“Ren…”_

Ren’s ears perked and he looked up cautiously at the wolf, recognizing Hux’s voice.

The wolf whined softly, stepping gently towards the cellar door. _“It’s too small in here… please- please I’m hot and it’s too small…”_ He scratched at it.

Ren lumbered forward. “You have paws… You look impressive.” He shoved the slab of wood away. “How do you feel?”

Hux hurriedly slunk out of the cellar. The beast stepped carefully in the grass, overwhelmed. _“There’s so much… I can smell so much… Hear so much…”_ The wolf stalked around in the grass, breathing deep. _“How do you focus on anything like this?”_

Ren shrugged.

 _“Well,”_ Hux raised his shaggy head, _“my sense of smell might be stronger than yours. I mean, I feel like my face is longer.”_ He rubbed at his muzzle with his massive front paw, letting out an indignant huff.

“Yes, you’re definitely full blooded…” Ren studied the wolf, stepping carefully around him. “Definitely…” His voice was somber. He had no reason to believe that Hux would turn out like he did. Hux was bitten by an alpha. Obviously, he wouldn’t be a half breed like Ren… But it still filled Ren with a sense of sadness.

Hux shook out his fur and stretched. _“Now that it’s all over though, I feel… I feel pretty good.”_ He looked to the edge of the trees, his ears twitching and a small gruff noise escaping his throat.

“What is it?” Ren followed his gaze. At the tree line, a small doe cautiously grazed, her back to them. He snuffed quietly. “I’ve seen her before… she’s far too fast.”

Hux didn’t seem to hear him. His amber eyes blazed with interest… and hunger. He stalked forward, his hackles raising and tail fluffed.

Ren moved behind him nervously. “Hux, why don’t you get a little more used to your new- _HUX!_ ” He raised his voice as the beast suddenly charged towards the deer.

Ren followed, trying to keep up. “Hux, wait!!!”

The wolf had the doe in his sights and wasn’t going to let her out. But she had detected the threat and sprinted away. Hux wasn’t going to give up the chase, though. His instincts drove him forward and he leapt into the tree line after her, his paws thudding on the dewy grass.

Ren pursued them, crashing a bit ungracefully through the damp brush on the forest floor. Despite being out of practice with larger game, he couldn’t help but feel a long forgotten excitement building in his chest. Ren pushed himself to run faster, watching Hux ahead of him and refusing to lose sight.

They were hunting.

Ren was hunting with his own kind. In this moment, his pedigree was irrelevant, and easily overshadowed by the wind in his face, the scent of the forest, and the adrenaline of the hunt. Hux was upon her, his lithe body easily dodging past the towering ferns. With a final leap, the wolf sank his fangs into her muscular haunch. The deer let out a distressed bleat and stumbled, trying to shake the beast off. Ren easily caught up and lunged as well, knocking the doe down and allowing Hux to finish her off. Hux was panting, his tongue lolling out and oozing blood, his piercing gaze drunk with excitement.

_“I did it-… We did it- We hunted together-…”_

Ren fluffed his fur up, trying to catch his breath as well. “I’ve-… I’ve never hunted with- anyone else-! I’ve never- caught anything this big-!”

The massive wolf licked over the bite wound on the doe’s leg and sniffed it feverishly. _“Oh, Ren… It smells so good… Is this always what it’s like?”_

Ren stepped back, respectfully giving Hux room to survey his kill. “Well… it’s not as exciting when it’s something like a rabbit…”

Hux blinked up at him, hunger still in his eyes. _“I’ve never done anything like that before… It’s like something came over me…”_

“Me too.” Ren moved forward and enthusiastically nuzzled the beast. “I’ve never felt so confident in a hunt. You did so well.”

Hux groaned softly and rubbed against him in return, his tail swaying gently. The deer’s blood was smudged on Ren’s mouth too, hot and sticky, causing the wolf to salivate and lap it up from him.

Ren moved away in slight confusion, his face growing warm.

The wolf was persistent, still drunk of his powerful feeling. His instincts began to surface more and more as he nuzzled against Ren. _“Fuck, Ren… You’re-… you smell amazing…”_

The halfbreed shifted nervously. “I-… Well, it’s probably only because of the deer blood.” His heart thudded in his chest.

Hux licked at the deep scratches on Ren’s face, causing him to shiver. _“_

 _I can’t get enough of it…”_ His hungry lapping trailed down to Ren’s chest.

Ren moaned softly. “Hux… Hux, what are you- mmmnn…” He felt his instincts taking over as well, just as they did when he tied with Hux in his human form, only this time, Ren felt the control slipping from his grasp instead of him seizing it. He felt a heaviness in his gut as his length began to slowly unsheathe and fill. “H-Hux, I’m- aaahh-! Careful-!”

The wolf grunted and nudged Ren hard, knocking him onto his side. Ren twisted uneasily, the rational side of his mind sensing danger, but the instinctive side of it urging him to relent to the fullbreed. He was unquestionably superior to Ren.

Hux hungrily licked down his torso to the thatch of fur between his legs, where his cock was now throbbing and growing with need. Hux groaned and lapped gently at the tip, causing Ren to whimper and arch below him. Hux could smell his scent, like pheromones that stirred a primal need in the beast.

 _“Ren-… Ren, let me have you…”_ He nudged him with his muzzle. _“I need you- I need you-!”_

Ren felt like his body was beyond his control. He nodded, his breathing labored and heavy as he rolled over and shakily got to his hands and knees, lowering his head and shifting his tail, presenting himself to the wolf.

Hux was too drunk on his arousal and adrenaline from the hunt to even consider Ren’s comfort. He circled the halfbreed, nudging and nipping him, before mounting him. It was awkward at first, just a fevered thrusting and litany of whines, pants, and groans as he desperately tried to breech Ren’s hole.

Then he slid in.

It happened too fast for both of them. Ren cried out in agony as Hux tore into him with a particularly heavy thrust, his stretched hole clenching desperately around the sudden intrusion. He whimpered and his claws dug into the dirt, his body breaking out in a cold sweat.

“H- ** _HUX-!_** ”

Hux nearly howled with triumph as the warmth and tightness throbbed around his aching cock. He didn’t hesitate to rut into Ren at a brutal pace, too lost in his instinctive dominance to hear the choked sobs below him.

“Hux- p-plea- _AAaah-!_ Please slow d-down-!!” Ren whimpered and tried to crawl away. “Please, I d-don’t think mating is supposed to **_hurt_** -!!” He yelped loudly.

The wolf snarled and bit hard into Ren’s shoulder to hold him still, eliciting another strangled cry from him, but also compliance. Hux groaned through the hunk of skin he held in his jaws as he felt his release coming on. Something was growing at the base of his length with each thrust. He let go of Ren only to let out a guttural grunt as he forced it into the tight ring of muscle, thrusting as deep as he could into Ren and coming in hot, heavy spurts.

Ren wailed in agony, clawing against the ground, the beasts come burning, stinging his insides as he filled him with his release. His limbs were shaking violently and he collapsed, unable to hold himself up along with the wolf’s weight anymore.

Hux groaned, sated as he finished in the half breed. He huffed, clambering off of Ren and shifting away from him, so that they were rear to rear as he waited for his knot to deflate.

The wolf man shuddered on the ground, feeling it tugging at his rim, Hux’s spend impossibly hot and stinging his insides. He whimpered as the fullbreed attempted to prematurely tug away.

“S-…stop-… it has to-… It needs time…” He moaned out shakily and tried to move as the large wolf did, desperately wishing the pain would ease.

The night began to grow colder, the dew from the recent rains began to frost on the forest floor around them.

Finally, Hux grunted and pulled hard, his cock slipping out of Ren with a sickening slide. The half breed crawled away, feeling a stinging stream ooze from his abused hole. Hux whined and shook out his fur, his length receding back into its sheath. The massive wolf lumbered away towards the deer carcass, which had started to grow rigid. He had seemingly forgot about the halfbreed once his rut diminished. His primal urge to breed had be satiated, and now he was famished.

Ren was feeling far from hungry. On the contrary, he felt horribly sick. Once he felt he was a safe distance from Hux, who was now stripping the carcass with ease, he curled up under one of the towering trees, tucking his tail close and shivering in the cold air, waiting longingly for dawn to break.


	11. Wounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Hux's first transformation.   
> Next stop is angst central.

Cicadas screeched wearily from the trees. The humid, summer mornings were coming to an end, and their songs were slowly fading as the mornings grew colder. This wasn’t enough to annoy Hux as it normally did. He was too warm, feeling content as if under a heated blanket. Another noise made him stir uneasily. It sounded like someone in pain, a shivering whimper. Hux blinked awake, groaning as he sat up, realizing that he had been laying on the hard earth.

He strained to remember how he had ended up here, suddenly feeling a pang of fury as his brain automatically assumed Ren had locked him outside of the estate again. It faded quickly, replaced with more confusion as he noticed the naked form of Ren lying under a tree a few yards away.

The man was covered in mud and grime, his palms and knees were scuffed and red. Bits of twig and leaf littered his messy hair.

Hux rubbed his eyes, feeling exhaustion creep into seemingly every muscle in his body as he woke more. It felt as if each had undergone an extensive workout. He remembered with some difficulty the events of last night. There was the cellar. He’d gone through his first transformation. It hurt. Would it always be like that? Then they were running, chasing after something. With a horrible lurch, he shifted and saw a ravaged carcass, swarmed with flies and gnats. Hux felt as if he were going to be sick as he started piecing things together, the dried blood crusted around his mouth worsening his sick feeling.

“Ren,” He heaved himself up with a pained grunt. “Ren, let’s go back… We need to go back to the estate and clean up…”

Ren didn’t respond.

“Ren, come on. Now’s not the time to sleep in. I don’t want to be near this dead-“ Hux trailed off as he approached the other man. He felt his stomach drop as he noticed a large, oozing wound between Ren’s shoulders he hadn’t seen before. “Fuck-…”

Hux dropped down to his knees, inspecting it. Had he attacked him? Surely he didn’t, he could have sworn he remembered running with Ren. He would remember if things had gone sour enough for him to lash out.

With a terrible feeling of dread, he remembered the alpha and his pack. Had they had a run in with them? Hux shook his head. He had to focus of getting the large man back and tending to his wounds.

“Ren… Ren, I need you to get up.” He gently brushed his cheek, carefully avoiding the deep scratches etched across it. They, at least, looked a bit better. “Come on…”

Ren didn’t move, but a soft groan came from him.

Hux felt a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding release. “I thought-… I thought you were…” He ran a hand through his messy hair. “It doesn’t matter. Come on. You’re hurt.” He brushed Ren’s thigh, and noticed something truly horrible;

A sickly pink mixture of what could only be blood and semen was smeared along his backside.

Ren made a moan of protest at the touch and blinked his eyes open, dazed and disoriented. When his dark, puffy eyes settled on Hux, they widened with panic. He made a choked noise and attempted to crawl away.

Hux stood and pursued him. “Ren, wait! Wait, it’s alright!”

Ren’s efforts reopened the wound between his shoulders and Hux watched, panic stricken as more blood gushed from it.

“Ren, settle down!” He clambered after him. “It’s me. It’s only me, there’s no danger here! Please!” Hux got down to his level again and held his face firmly, looking into his eyes. “Look at me…. It’s me, Ren…”

The other man only stopped trying to squirm away when the throbbing in his back grew too painful. He meekly stared up into Hux’s face, his face flushed and shining with a sheen of sweat.

Hux gently caressed his cheek again, hushing him softly. “There… there, it’s alright… It’s going to be okay. I’ve got you.”

Ren slowly eased into the touch, starved for the soft affection. He muttered something unheard by Hux, who was now trying to help him up.

“Ren, I need to get you back up to the house. I need to fix that wound. It looks terrible…”

The man groaned in pain. “No…. no, let me stay…”

“Don’t be foolish…” Hux hoisted him up with as much effort as he could muster, throwing Ren’s arm over his shoulder and taking heavy steps towards where he saw the largest breaks in the trees. Surely home was that way… “I’m not leaving you out here. It’s not safe.” He spoke firmly, but couldn’t help the lingering fear that it wasn’t anything that resided in these woods that attacked Ren.

The trek home was painful and slow. The sun was high enough in the sky to have melted away the cool frosts on the forest floor. It bore down on Hux’s sensitive skin, even through the thinning foliage, and he wished dearly that he had some sort of clothing to cover at least his neck with.

Ren was walking mostly on his own now, but his breathing was labored, and he was still shiny with sweat. He kept his eyes to himself, his gaze fixed on the ground as he limped onward, still supported by Hux.

The tree line wasn’t far now, and Hux felt his stomach unclench at the sight of the massive estate in the distance.

 

-_-_-_-_-_

 

Ren shivered as he stared down at the bath Hux had prepared for him. He didn’t want it. He wanted to be back in the comfortable bed they’d made in the cellar. He wanted it to be yesterday again, before everything had transpired. Maybe then he would have had the sense to allow Hux to transform on his own and hunt on his own instead of feeling like they could be equals. He was dragged momentarily from his miserable headspace when Hux cleared his throat awkwardly from the edge of the tub.

“Well go on… Do you need help getting in?” Hux, who was wrapped in a towel, yet still slightly bloody and muddy, patted the edge encouragingly. “It’s nice and warm. I filled it up enough to help you soak. We can rinse out that nasty wound too.”

Ren shifted in place, shrugging solemnly before carefully stepping over the ledge with some difficulty, his ass stinging. He hissed as he lowered into the water, the warmth igniting his sore muscles, the cuts and scrapes that littered his body, and his raw knees and hole.

Hux was watching with a pained expression, biting his lip as Ren groaned. “There-… there you go…” He stood and placed another towel down next to the tub, before dropping to his knees and carefully beginning to rub the grime from Ren’s arms.

There was a horrible silence between them, interrupted only by Ren’s whimpers and sharp intakes of breath if Hux accidently strayed too close to the wound on his back, the noise echoing off the bathroom walls.

Ren kept his eyes forward, focused on nothing. He didn’t know what to say, didn’t know if Hux knew what had happened. He certainly wasn’t acting like he did. Ren felt a horrible surge of guilt. He knew he’d done nothing to merit such a feeling, but he couldn’t help it. Finally, Hux spoke and brought him out of his trance again.

“Erm-… So we ate then?”

“Huh?” Ren blinked and glanced at him.

“I’m assuming we ate. The- ah-… the dead… deer, I think. That was-… you got that for us?” A redness rose in his cheeks, as if conversing about this subject matter was costing him a great deal of effort.

It was awhile before Ren answered.

“You’re the one who finished it off… I just helped.”

“Well, we did it together.” Hux sounded as if he was trying for lightheartedness, an obvious contrast to Ren’s solemnness. “The transformation, I remember that. It hurt. It sort of gave me a new appreciation for what you go through every night, that’s for certain.”

“I’m used to it.”

“Well, with any luck, maybe- uh-…. Maybe I’ll learn to adjust to it as well.” He dispensed some shampoo into his hands and gently began lathering it into Ren’s tangled hair. “I remember leaving the cellar. As the beast, I believe. I was so hot, it felt like wearing a great, shaggy coat.”

“Yes, that’s fur.”

Ren’s blunt answers seemed to cause Hux’s forced enthusiasm to waver.

“….It-… It was amazing in a sense, though… To be able to smell and see and hear… It was like my senses were opened up for the first time.” He scrubbed gently behind Ren’s ears.

“Wolves are better at all of that than humans are.” Ren closed his eyes as the foamy lather oozed down his forehead.

Hux was quiet for a moment as he worked. “…The, ah, the other wolves… The alpha,” He helped move Ren forward to rinse, ignoring the other man tense up. “…did he show up?”

“No.”

Hux turned the shower nozzle on and adjusted it to the lightest setting. “Then…. Then do you remember what attacked-shit!!! S-sorry!!!” He jumped back as Ren cried out. The water had pushed a great dollop of shampoo down his back and over the wound and the larger man lashed out, striking him across the face in a panicked rage.

Ren stood and shook off, breathing hard, his voice unsteady. “No more! I’m done-! I don’t want any more washing!” He clambered out of the tub, still soaking, leaving a perplexed Hux behind, who was holding his cheek and staring after him in surprise.

“Ren, I’m sorry! Please,” Hux stood, turned the water off, and pursued him into the bedroom. “I can’t let you lumber around with that awful thing on your back!”

“I don’t need your help!” Ren was blindly groping around for something to cover himself with. He didn’t want anymore exposure to Hux. “I can take care of myself!” He felt a horrible lump in his throat, the guilty feeling in his gut ready to burst as he snatched the blanket of the bed and wrapped himself in it, giving one last fleeting look in Hux’s direction before hurrying out of the room.

“Ren…” Hux’s voice followed him out of the room and he tried to move quicker. “Ren! That’s the last blanket! Come back here with it!”

Ren felt the guilt turn to a horrible sick feeling at Hux pursuing him again, his steps close behind him and the raising volume of his voice. He was nearly at the cellar door. He felt a terrible tearing sensation as he bent over to push the carpet out of the way to open it. Ren was barely able to choke out “Please- Go away! Don’t hurt me!!” before he managed to open the cellar door and stumble down the steps, running rather ungracefully into the side of the safe.

“Jesus, Ren…” Hux carefully descended the stairs behind him, holding his hands up and lowering his voice. “What’s gotten into you….? I’m not going to hurt you…”

The larger man shuffled slowly to the bed, the blanket wrapped tightly around him. It wasn’t much of a shield, but it was all he had. He crawled onto the pallet, curling up and making himself small, holding himself tightly. “Just let me be… Please…”

Hux bit his lip as he saw red creep through the blanket. Ren’s wound was bleeding freely again. He heaved a great sigh and tried to steady any sort of emotion in his voice as he slowly knelt next to the bed.

“Ren.”

Ren acknowledged him by drawing himself up tighter.

“I need you to tell me what happened last night.” Hux watched the blanket lump that was Ren tense even more. “Your back is torn open. Your knees are scuffed. You’re-…” He swallowed. “…you were bleeding from your behind.”

Ren felt any last vestige of control leave him. He sniffed hard before letting out a shuddering sob that echoed horribly off the cellar walls, even worse than in the bathroom. Fat, warm tears streaked down his scarred face as he cried into the blankets.

Hux was slightly taken aback that this. Almost instinctively, he crawled quickly to the other side of the bed so he could speak directly to Ren. The sight of the large man devolved to hysterics made his chest swell with grief. “Ren-“ His voice cracked. “Ren, what happened? Please, please, just- just tell me what happened!” He didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want to hear the words, but he needed them. He needed to hear the truth, even though he knew for certain that it would tear him apart.

“Please…” Hux’s voice was quiet. “Tell me… who hurt you?”

Ren blinked, fresh tears misting from his fearful eyes as he responded in an equally hushed tone, his lip trembling.

“You did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MAYBE IT'LL GET BETTER, RIGHT?  
> As always, feel free to comment (My life blood) and follow me on tumblr;  
> werewolf-kylo-ren.tumblr.com  
> Thanks for reading!


	12. Threat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mystery thickens as Ren and Hux discuss the little boy in the picture.  
> The Alpha grows impatient.

All of Hux’s muscles were throbbing in protest as he approached the trap door to the cellar from outside the estate. He had fallen into a routine for the past four nights, where he’d stripped himself of his clothes in the cellar to avoid unnecessarily tearing or ripping them, then left before the sun sank below the trees. He’d trekked way out into the woods to transform, giving himself plenty of space to roam, hunt, and act on whatever other impulse the beast inside of him felt it needed to do.

Hux had given Ren the rest of the estate to have during his transformations. The halfbreed was much more accustomed to his, and therefore much more in control of himself. Hux knew that all he truly had to worry about by allowing Ren to lumber around the ornate interior of the house was the wolfman’s slightly clumsy size and disposition in his wolfish form.

He tried not to linger on thoughts of Ren too much as he trudged up to the slab of wood covering the hole to the cellar, covering his privates and shivering in the morning chill. He didn’t even know where to begin as far as apologizing to Ren for what had transpired a few nights before went. The guilt only seemed to worsen when he would pass him in the halls to use the restroom or to sneak to the kitchen make himself some food. Ren had assured him that he was doing better, that it wasn’t truly Hux’s fault for what happened. He had even let Hux sew up the horrible bite he’d given him, half joking that maybe he would be an actual werewolf now instead of a mottled, grey mix.

Despite this, Hux still felt it best to steer clear, and had spent the past few days hidden down in the cellar. It was rather boring, and he didn’t realize just how much he’d grown accustomed to Ren’s presence. He didn’t make much noise, he certainly didn’t talk much, but Ren was always nosy and right by Hux’s side as he’d been cleaning and organizing, much like an attention starved dog, and he’d grown accustomed to it.

Hux groaned as he pulled on some clothes he’d retrieved for himself yesterday afternoon for post transformation and he fell back onto the pallet.

This ruddy house.

He still didn’t know what to do with it. He knew he had to do something, though. He had his flat in London. He was sure he’d return to a fair share of rude letters on his door, complaining about the state of his rent and utilities. But how could he go back now? Hux snorted as the title “An American Werewolf in London” flitted through his mind, but rubbed his eyes miserably when he reminisced about the days where werewolves were only that; fiction.

Hux shifted to his side, staring into space and trying to ignore his grumbling stomach. He hadn’t eaten since yesterday. He knew this because pieces of his memories fit together more firmly as he grew accustomed to his time as the beast. Many of last night’s activities involved marking several trees in the woods (Having a piss on trees would normally be vile, but it made perfect sense to his wolf’s brain) and following trails that promised something delicious, but led to nothing.

Hux heard something crinkle under him and sat up, annoyed. Ren hadn’t occupied this bed since the day of his confession, where he’d spent up until the sun started to set hidden away, wrapped up tightly in his bloodied blanket, but Hux could easily picture the overgrown child trying to bring in more leaves and rubbish to make the pallet seem more familiar again.

He stood and hoisted up the sheets, shaking them out, when the source of the noise slipped out and drifted lazily to the floor. Hux tossed the sheets back onto the bed and picked it up.

It was the newspaper article on the murder, looking as worn as ever. Only now, there were several more blots of smudged ink on the page. Hux realized with a sinking feeling that they were tear marks. And they were quite fresh.

He read over it again, trying to rid his mind of the image of Ren weeping into the clipping like some sort of teddy bear to comfort him after what Hux had done.

Hux realized he was blankly scanning over the printed date over and over again. January the third.

January the third…. Ninety-two.

“Nineteen ninety-two.” Hux breathed, feeling something click in his head. He hurried to the gunsafe, reading the numbers that were worn down on the pinpad, his heart beating faster as he traced over each one. “One…Two… Three… Nine….”

He gave a hasty glance to the staircase that led up to the main floor. The door was closed, luckily.

Hux shakily held up the newspaper clipping in one hand and punched in the code 1-3-9-2 with the other, barely able to contain his excitement. This was it. This had to be it. He hastily pressed a button labeled “Enter”.

He felt his stomach drop when the screen went displayed a faded **“Error”** message. Unperturbed, he took a deep breath and tried again.

1-3-9-2

Again, nothing happened but the display of **“Error”**.

Hux held the rusted handle and gave a smart tug. It didn’t budge.

“What the fuck…” He muttered, annoyed at feeling so close. But to what, exactly?

Hux felt stupid and was glad no one was there to witness his letdown. Suddenly, the door to the cellar stairs swung open and Hux jumped like a child caught stealing sweets. He shoved the clipping into his pants pocket and tried to look like he’d only been innocently studying the safe, glancing up casually at Ren, who was now descending the steps with an armful of wrinkly clothes.

“Hello.” Hux kept his tone relatively casual as well.

Ren grunted as he stepped by him towards the bed. Hux stole a glance at the man’s back as he went and felt an ease of tension at the sight of the wound. It was healing nicely. Hux half wondered if the sensitive injury hidden behind the seat of Ren’s sweatpants was healing alright as well; Ren had refused to let him anywhere near it.

Ren had started awkwardly folding the wrinkled clothes, which were coming out looking like failed attempts at origami when he finished each and tossed it on the workbench.

“You did the laundry?” Hux asked.

“Yes. We-… you are out of clothes. And one of your rules is that I don’t walk around naked all the time.” He plopped down a shirt and Hux realized that these clothes were still relatively damp. “The pants like these are my favorite and they were all dirty. So I washed everything.” He tugged meekly at his sweatpants.

Hux decided not to comment on the fact that Ren clearly forgot that he owned a dryer as well, wincing a bit as another horribly folded shirt made a _plaf!_ sound as it was tossed on top of the other.

“That was-…. very thoughtful of you.”

Ren grunted again in acknowledgment, going back to avoiding Hux’s gaze. After an uncomfortable silence, Ren finally spoke again.

“I don’t know why you want to get into that box so bad…” He stared over at it as he folded. “I’m sure Mr. Bren left it empty. I never saw him open it.”

“Mr. Bren,” Hux said, suddenly remembering that the last time his father was brought up, his opportunity to find out more was interrupted. “He lived here, didn’t he? Would he leave at times?”

Ren’s gaze slowly found Hux and he shrugged. “Sometimes.”

“And when he was here….” Hux chose his words carefully, still feeling on a sort of communication probation with Ren. “He treated you well?”

“….Not as nice as you. But he gave me food. Food for pet animals. And he let me have the cellar...” Ren trailed off. “So he-… he was your dad?”

Hux wanted Ren to tell him more, his head buzzing. “Yeah.” He went to the bed pallet and sat. “Yeah, the man you called “Mr. Bren” was my father.”

Ren put the sock he couldn’t find a match for back into the pile of damp clothes and sat next to Hux, looking down at his feet.

“….He’s dead… Mr. Bren is dead.”

Hux closed his eyes and nodded. “Yes. He’s dead.”

A fleeting moment of silence passed and Hux heaved a sigh, opening his eyes and turning to Ren. “I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry, Ren.”

Ren blinked. “I’m sad. But-… But I have you here now. So it’s not all bad.”

“I-“ Hux turned a bit red in the face. “No, I mean- Well, yes, I am sorry he’s dead- but I meant…. Well, I’m sorry for what- for what happened. The other night, I mean.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I am making an effort. To stay away and all of that… Until I can better control myself.”

Ren watched him, his expression hard to read.

“….I should be the one apologizing.”

Hux raised an eyebrow, taken aback. “Er- no… No, you did absolutely nothing wrong. You have no reason to be sorry for anything!”

“I promised you, as your mate, that I would help keep you under control. I-…” He rubbed a finger absently over one of the scars on his face. “I got too excited. When we were hunting, I mean. I’ve never known companionship like that. So… So I got too lost in it.”

Hux shook his head, his tone frank. “I refuse to accept any apology you give, because you have no reason to give one.”

“Fine.” Ren looked at Hux longer than he had these past few days combined. “Then I don’t accept yours either.”

“Don’t be stupid. I practically sexually assaulted you!”

“I wanted to mate. It was harder than I expected, but I never said no.”

“Damn it all, Ren!” Hux stood, furious. “I won’t let you blame yourself! I just fucking won’t! I hurt you, I tore you open just like that wretched, fucking alpha had! I made you bleed from your ass! And YOU’RE apologizing to ME?”

Ren nodded, a defiant glimmer in his doleful eyes. “Yes.”

“Well don’t.” Hux folded his arms.

“Sorry.” The man narrowed his eyes.

“Real mature, Ben.” Hux grinned at Ren’s reaction, which was like he’d just been force fed castor oil.

“I-… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know damn well, I think.” Hux watched him. “I accidentally let it slip when you were jerking me off, remember? And there’s a picture of you upstairs. It says “Ben” on the back.” He smirked triumphantly.

But his petty smile was short lived as a horrible, familiar pang of realization hit him. He took out the newspaper clipping from his pocket and delicately unfolded it.

“Hey, that’s mine! Did you go through my things?” Ren moved forward to take it, but Hux turned so he could read it.

  _Her husband, Han Solo, 34, and son, Ben Solo, 2, are still missing._

How could he have been so stupid to not have noticed before? “Wait-…. Wait a minute, this boy in the clipping….. Ben was you. Is you!” Hux waved the newspaper.

“I don’t know.” Ren stated simply.

“Your name is Ben, is it not?” Hux raised his eyebrows.

“I don’t know.”

“Christ, Ren, it either is or it isn’t. How do you suddenly not know anything?” Hux was losing his patience.

“Mr. Bren would call me that sometimes. But it was only when he was very mad or sad.”

“My father would-….” He scanned over the paper again. “Follow me. I want to show you something.”

Hux hurried up the stairs, the larger man in tow. He pushed the trap door open and went to the desk, searching through the numerous sorted papers and shoving scattered knick knacks out of the way. At last he found what he was looking for. He opened the folder with shaky hands, quickly sifting the letters that outed his father as a werewolf hunter out of the way, and pulled out the old photograph, handing it to Ren, who took it slowly and studied it.

“A boy.” He said after a moment of hesitation.

“Look on the back.”

Ren turned it over, recognizing the name. “Ben. Um… I’m not good at numbers. One hundred, nine two?”

“Nineteen ninety-two.” Hux corrected him. “The year that picture was taken, I presume.”

Ren screwed up his face, obviously trying to do basic sums in his head. He seemed to reach his conclusion. “This was a long time ago.”

“Ren, this is you.” Hux’s voice grew urgent. “Do you remember my father taking this picture? Or was it before you met him?”

The man bit his lip as he studied the photograph. The boy was wearing overalls that looked stained with dirt. His hair was certainly as dark and thick as Ren’s, his eyes the same brown. Barely visible in the corner of the picture was what looked like a swing. A makeshift one, tethered to a tree.  It all looked very familiar.

“….I don’t think Mr. Bren ever let me have a swing.” He handed the picture back to Hux, who looked a bit crestfallen.

“That’s all? But you agree that that’s you, correct? You’re Ben. I’ve never seen this kid in my life. And I’m sure my father didn’t just have a random picture of a random boy.” He frowned. “….I think that’s why he took you in. He adopted you after your mom died and your dad went missing.”

Ren shrugged solemnly. “….Maybe…”

Hux hesitated. “…It all fits… You would have been about this age if your mother was killed in ninety-two… Your name is Ben.” He awkwardly ran a hand through his fine hair. “Did you know about this?”

The larger man shifted, looking extremely uncomfortable. “Maybe. I knew there was-… that something bad happened.”

Hux held out the clipping, his voice soft. “You’ve cried over it, I see…”

Ren took it back with unsteady hands, gently running his fingers over the aged paper. “Because he gave it to me. It was something special Mr. Bren gave to me.” He suddenly picked up the folder. “Are there any more?”

“Ah-n-no-!” Hux snatched the folder from him. Ren wasn’t the best reader, but he still didn’t want to risk it. “No, those are just- just medical records of my father’s. Boring stuff.” He tucked the folder away in a drawer, clearing his throat awkwardly. “Uhm. We haven’t got long before the sun goes down. I’m going to go back downstairs and do my thing. You can have the house again.”

“No,” Ren grabbed the sleeve to Hux’s shirt as he tried to make his way back to the cellar. “I want you here. I don’t want to be by myself right now.”

Hux felt a horrible pang of guilt. He’d convinced Ren that it was his parents that were murdered, he’d been adopted by his father who had shot himself, and now he was running away to the cellar, leaving Ren with these horrible revelations. “I just don’t want anything…. Well, bad to happen again. I still can’t control myself.”

“Let me help you.” Ren’s eyes were pleading. “You’ll never learn by locking yourself away. Please, let me try again.”

Hux groaned and rubbed his eyes, finding it hard to look into Ren’s. He sighed. “Alright. But the first sign of danger, I expect you to run for it. Leave me alone, attack me to defend yourself if you have to.”

Ren nodded in hesitant agreement. “Fine.”

 

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

 

The massive, ginger wolf crashed through the underbrush, darting around trees and leaping over fallen branches. His ears were alert, his glowing eyes scanning his surroundings as he breathed in the scent of his prey. He was close now, the half man sprinting ahead of him, running for his life.

The beast’s powerful muscles rippled with each mighty bound, his paws thudding heavily on the forest floor. A clearing was ahead. He could feel his instincts guiding him. A clearing would mean certain doom for his prey. They broke through the brush into the moonlit clearing.

He was in reach.

Nearly there.

The wolf lunged, his heart pounding in his chest, ready to burst with exertion and anticipation.

With a snarl, he tackled Ren, knocking him over and pinning him to the ground. Barring his teeth dangerously close to the wolfman’s neck.

Ren huffed.

The wolf huffed back. _What?_

“You took longer that time.”

The beast groaned, stepping off Ren. _I’m getting tired. We’ve been at this for hours. I’m still new at this, you know._

Ren sat up, shaking his fur out and lumbering over to Hux, nuzzling him. “I understand. You’re doing much better at not letting your instincts take over. It must be harder being fullbred too.”

The beast nuzzled him back softly. _I’m trying. I promise, I’m trying._

“I believe you. I want you to learn all about the forest too. I can show you good hiding places, and where rabbit dens and bird nests are.” His tail whisked through the air.

Hux suddenly raised his head, his ears perking in alert. _Ren. There’s something there._ He pointed his shaggy head towards a thick part of the woods across the clearing. His hackles slowly began to raise.

Ren stood and growled a warning. He stalked forward, peering into the trees. A scent reached his nose, a horrible, familiar scent. “Hux…” His voice was hushed. “Get back to the house.”

The beast moved forward as well. _What is it?_

“Go. Now!” Ren nudged him hard. “Go back!”

 _Ren, I’m not going to-_ His ears lowered in fear as a figure emerged from the towering pines, slinking quietly through the darkness, his eyes glowing.

The alpha emerged first, then four… six more…. Each beast following the alpha’s lead only slightly smaller, sharing the same frighteningly large build, heavy paws, and long, glistening fangs that glinted in the moonlight. The alpha approached, narrowing his eyes and studying Hux appraisingly.

He tossed his heavy head, clearing his thick white coat of debris.

“It would seem I did well with this one.”

There was an ominous rumble of agreement from the wolves behind him.

Ren rushed forward, the fur on his back ruffling up, his eyes blazing as he stood protectively in front of Hux.

“Settle down, halfbreed. You’ll hurt yourself.” The alpha snuffed.

“I won’t let you have him. He’s my mate. I promised to protect him, and I will.”

The alpha cocked his massive head, narrowing his piercing eyes. “You’re certainly not at an advantage here.”

Ren looked warily from beast to beast that stood obediently behind the alpha, but he stood his ground, growling threateningly. The air was tense with confrontation.

The ginger wolf emerged from behind Ren, standing as tall as he could, his tail lashing. _I refuse any proposal._ He found it hard to steady his voice. _And we mean no harm. Ren is simply teaching me how to control this curse you bestowed upon me._

“The gift” The white wolf corrected him. “Have you not experienced it in its entirety yet?” He scoffed. “Of course you haven’t. Look at the company you keep.” The alpha’s lips curled into a snarl. “He reeks of you… I can tell you tied with him…. But has he tied with you?”

Hux watched the white wolf’s eyes narrow at him. He shifted. _No. No, he hasn’t since you bit me.  But it doesn’t matter, does it? We had sex before then. And-… and we’ll probably do it again. We are together._

Ren felt a sense of pride flutter in his chest at Hux’s words.

“Clearly he hasn’t told you how our custom works. I’m sure the reason is simply because he’s not truly one of us. He only knows of sleeping in human beds, eating their pellets, and being coddled by our worst enemy.”

The halfbreed lowered his ears defiantly. “The humans are not our enemy. They are good! It was a human that raised me!”

The alpha’s gaze slowly shifted to Hux, a malicious light in his eyes. The sight was almost accusatory, making Hux’s insides clench in guilt, the ginger wolf’s mind flitting back to the letters he had kept from Ren. He held it long enough to force the Hux to look away, convicted by his instincts.

Ren and Hux both waited with bated breath as the alpha slowly turned, as if he were prematurely leaving. The massive wolf simply muttered something to one of his packmates, a russet colored male. He lunged forward before they could react and slammed into Ren, knocking him over and scruffing him so quickly, the halfbreed only barely managed to let out a yelp of pain and surprise.

 _R-Ren!!!_ Hux charged to Ren’s aid, but was stopped by three more of the alpha’s cronies, all significantly larger then him, who forced him away as the white wolf approached him from behind. Hux tucked his tail between his legs, trembling as he remembered Ren’s grave warning over the alpha’s intentions. _Don’t-… please…. Please, don’t…._

The alpha moved closer, stalking so near to Hux that the ginger could feel his hot breath against the sensitive fur in his ear, could hear the rattling in his chest.

“I gave you a gift. You know what I expect it return.” The alpha’s voice was calm but dangerous. “You have three days before I come to collect.”

Ren groaned in pain and writhed in the wolf’s grasp.

 _Please…_ Hux whined softly. _Please, don’t do this… Just leave us be…_

The alpha snorted in amusement at Hux’s surrender. “Three days.”

He nodded to the russet wolf holding Ren, who flug him to the side carelessly. The alpha charged away into the underbrush, his massive pack mates following. Their footfalls thundered until they faded into nothing, leaving Hux and Ren alone in the clearing.

Hux let out a shuddered breath that had been hitched in his chest, and hurried towards the limp form of Ren. _Ren-…. Ren, are you alright?_

The halfbreed stirred, groaning. The wound between his shoulders that had made so much progress in healing we open again, oozing crimson. “I’m alright…” His voice trembled. “Just… I wasn’t ready… I should have attacked him while I had the chance.”

The ginger wolf grunted and nudged Ren up. _Don’t be ridiculous… He’s massive. And we were horribly outnumbered. We have to rely on brains, not brawn._

Ren scoffed, shaking his head. “Well I’m not very smart. And-…. And I have no one other than you to help us. I don’t have a pack.”

 _We have to figure something out… We have to, Ren._ The wolf nuzzled him gently, licking at the wound. _They’ll kill you… They’ll take me and-… and who knows what they’ll do._

Ren moaned softly, and began lumbering away, avoiding Hux’s gaze again. “Come on…. The sun will be up soon. We should go back to the house.”

Hux didn’t know if he was frowning, but he certainly would be if he was in his human form. He hurried after Ren, casting one more glance to the trees where the pack had disappeared. 


	13. Home

“Absolutely not.”

Ren eyed the car warily. White, almost pearlescent, resting on four intimidating looking tires, a small sheen of pollen and tree debris settled on it from it resting abandoned in the winding front drive of the estate. He stalked around it, his arms folded.

“Ren, it’s only a car. I can’t believe you’ve never been for a ride in any sort of car before.” Hux stood back, watching the man inspect it. “It was my fathers. It was Mr. Bren’s! I’m sure it still smells like him if that makes you feel better.”

“What about yours? Where’s your car?”

“This is my car now. My father left it for me.” He opened the driver side door. “Back home, the wheel is on the other side. But here in the states, it’s on the left.”

Ren huffed, stepping away in surprise as the car revved to life. “No,” He tried to keep his voice steady, despite the uncomfortable clench of his stomach. “No, I’ll just stay here.”

Hux closed the door and rolled down the window, calling out to Ren. “Look, I’ve got to go back into town. We’re nearly out of food. I don’t want to leave you by yourself.”

“I can take care of myself! I’ve done it before!” Ren clenched his fists at his sides.

Hux thought for a moment before speaking again. “….Oh, I forgot to add whiskey to my shopping list.” He raised a hand to his forehead. “So silly of me.”

Ren stepped closer, eyeing the hood of the car nervously as he approached. “I thought you weren’t going to drink that stuff anymore…”

“Well, lord knows I could do with a buzz.”

“No! You don’t need it to feel better!” The larger man glared. “You have me now!”

“No, I don’t…” Hux made his voice somber. “I’m off to the village by myself…” He started rolling up the window.

“Don’t say that, I’m still your mate, I’m just-… I’ll walk to the village! How far away is it?”

Hux paused his rolling up the window. “You won’t make it in time to stop me from buying whiskey, I’m afraid.” With a grin, he closed it the rest of the way and shifted the car into reverse, watching the silent battle Ren was having with his conscious, which was very apparent on the man’s screwed up expressions.

He turned and began to roll out of the private drive, glancing back at Ren in his rearview mirror. He smirked, satisfied, as the man hurried after the car, a slightly panicked look on his face. Hux stopped the car and unlocked the doors. Ren nearly tore the door off with how forcefully he opened it, and slunk into the front seat, folding his legs up and making himself small.

“Are you alright-?”

“Just go!” Ren snapped, holding himself fearfully.

Hux took it slow, carefully turning onto the small road. As he slowly increased speed, Ren groaned softly to himself.

“Nooo… No, slow down… please…”

Hux did, keeping an eye out behind him for anyone who actually was going the modest speed limit of 45. A small SUV ended up catching up to them, so he went a bit faster, despite Ren’s noisy protests.

“Wait-! Wait, not so fast-…!” Ren clung to the seat, looking very much like a child on his first roller coaster ride.

“Ren, I’m barely doing forty…” Hux kept his tone patient.

“Forty is a lot, I think. It feels like a lot!”

Hux had a sudden idea. He carefully reached over and rolled the window down a bit.

Ren yelped and moved away from the sudden rush of air. “What have you done?! You’ve broken it!” He moaned with dread.

“Put your face out the window, go on. Feel the air!”

The larger man experimentally moved his hand closer to the rush of air. It was crisp, the smell of fall carried into the vehicle. Ren carefully moved his face closer to breathe it in. He felt a grin creep along his face at the feeling, unable to ignore or hide the feeling of elation in his stomach that soared like butterflies. “It feels like I’m running very fast!”

Hux smiled at him fondly. “See, it’s not so bad, is it?”

Ren was too blissful to notice Hux speed up to the speed limit, as well as his casual rude hand gesture to the SUV behind them, which had come obnoxiously close to their rear bumper.

-_-_-_-_-_-

“Right.” Hux closed the car door, minding the vehicle parked next to them in the town square. “I’ve got the grocery list right here. I know most of the shops I need are on this side of the square…” He pointed. “So let’s start here, shall we?”

Ren looked awkwardly at people bustling by on the sidewalks, feeling a bit overwhelmed. Though the village was quaint, it was unfamiliar territory, littered with humans he didn’t know. Cobblestone paths wound neatly in front of the small shops, whose windows advertised various goods. It was a lot to take in for the wolfman, who’d spent a majority of his life in solitary. He followed closely to Hux, avoiding the people that brushed by them.

They made their way to a bakery and Ren narrowly avoided a woman exiting in a hurry.

“Ah, pardon me- oh!” She looked fearfully at Ren’s scarred face with a slight grimace as she edged around him to pass. “Sorry…”

Ren watched her go and looked to Hux who was frowning. “Do I smell bad?”

“No.” Hux reassured him. “I’m sure she’s just not used to people as tall as you.”

The larger man nodded. “That makes sense…”

While Hux browsed the shelves and display cases, Ren continued staring around the store. It seemed familiar, as if he’d dreamed of this place before. Dreamed of all of it. Even the scent of the fresh bread baking seemed to make something stir in him, and he couldn’t help but feel an immense sense of sadness. Hux snapped him out of his reverie.

“Come on then…” He handed Ren a grocery bag. “There’s a deli across the way. And a sweets shop if you’re interest.” Hux grinned.

Ren cocked his head. “Sweets? Like candy?”

After they left the deli with a bag of meats and cheeses, Hux led him to a corner store. Ren browsed the walls with stacked containers of sweets. The different colors and scents nearly made him dizzy. Hux helped him pick out a bag and they filled it with various treats.

“These here,” Hux said, using a scoop to pour pastel colored cadies into their bag, “are my favorite. They’re called jellybeans.”

“Jellybeans…” Ren was distracted by a vibrantly colored doll blowing bubbles through the store from where it sat atop a shelf.

A kindly looking old man weighed their bag and struck up a conversation with Hux. Ren, however, wasn’t listening. He had just noticed a bulletin board mounted on the opposite side of the small store. He approached it, studying it carefully.

There was a town meeting notice, a reminder to register to vote, and various ads for things like tree removal services, weekend crafting classes, and lease openings. What had caught Ren’s attention was a word half obscured by the ads. He began pulling down to ads to see it better.

**MISSING.**

Ren moved the final ad and found himself staring at two faces. One was familiar; the same doe eyed, curly haired boy called “Ben”. The other was a man. The sight of him alone made Ren’s chest ache terribly. His hair was scruffy, parted haphazardly to the side. He had a handsome face, but his eyes were tired, despite the lines from his smile showing at their edges.

“Ah, forgot that was under there…” The elderly shopkeeper pulled Ren from his trance. “Still missing to this day, isn’t that sad?”

Hux looked over as well. “Ah, Ren! What’re you doing making a mess of this board?” He took the ads from Ren and muttered an apology to the shopkeeper as he started pinning them back up. He stopped when he too noticed the pictures under the “Missing” headline.

“No, no, it’s fine, really.” The old man assured them. “Might do it some good to be more visible. Though hope can only be held out for so long… it’s been years since that poor family was torn apart. Mrs. Organa was a kind, generous woman. Used to bring that sweet little boy in here all the time. Bit of a town celebrity. That was a long time ago, but it seems like only yesterday sometimes. They were all taken from us far too early. Especially little Ben….” He went back to ringing up their purchase.

As Hux paid, Ren chimed in. “They lived nearby? The family?”

“Oh yes. Their house still stands, though it’s been vacant since the incident.” He plucked Hux’s change from the register.

Ren met Hux’s eyes, and could tell they were thinking the same thing.

“Where is it?” Hux asked, pocketing the change.

“Down the block a ways. On a street called Kessel. It’s a private drive, but you can’t miss it. You can only look, not enter. It’s been boarded up for years.” He handed Hux the bag of sweets and smiled. “You boys have a nice evening.”

Hux returned the sentiment and Ren followed him out of the sweet shop. He stayed close to him, continuing to avoid people, but finding it easier with the foot traffic dying down as the afternoon was slowly turning to dusk.

“Hux, do you think-?”

“I don’t know, Ren….” Hux had stopped quite suddenly, looking conflicted. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea to go to that house.”

“Why not? It would help us learn more about what happened…”

“I’m not so sure, Ren.” Hux shook his head solemnly. “We know what happened. You have the newspaper clipping. I don’t think looking at the outside of an abandoned house will tell us anymore.”

Ren hesitated, but had already made his decision. He turned and skulked up the cobblestone sidewalk, heading in the direction the shopkeeper had gestured towards. He looked up at the wooden street signs as he walked, trying to find one that looked like it spelled out “Kessel”.

Exasperated, Hux followed, clutching his bags close. “Honestly, Ren, we have perishables, you know…”

Ren finally found the road. It trailed down into a small thicket of trees, hidden from the cobblestone street. He began to forget about Hux trailing behind him the closer he got to the trees. The little road passed right through them and was covered in a thick layer of fallen leaves and brush that had collected from years of not being disturbed.

The house wasn’t far now, he could feel it. The feeling was pulling at his chest, moving him forward despite the new and familiar sense of foreboding. As he rounded the corner, he saw it.

It was quaint, much like the rest of the town, but where Ren had been nervous and unsure in the little village, now all he felt was warmth. As he approached and imagined what this house had once been like, he was overcome with a horrible sadness. He barely heard Hux trudge along behind him, whose muttered complaints fell silent as he too came around the bend and saw the house.

Ren drew closer, crossing over the overgrown lawn. The grass crunched beneath his feet, dead, as if it had grown and died, unkempt, over and over through seasons, through years. There were vines growing along the stone sides of the house, creeping along like an intricate web. The windows, true to what the elderly man had said, were boarded with thick plywood, and covered with strange black markings. As Ren stepped onto the leaf strewn porch, he saw that the markings were, in fact, writing. He stared up at it, trying to decipher the larger words.

**_Rest in Peace_ **

**_Justice for Leia Organa_ **

Ren felt his stomach flip as he read the message written in the largest writing of all;

**_Bless you, little Ben._ **

Ren reached up and brushed over the aged wooden board, tracing his fingers down over the smudged writing.

“Ren…” Hux’s voice was quiet, but it still made him jump. “Look…”

The larger man turned, his gaze following Hux’s pointing finger and settling on a familiar scene. A swing was tied to a low hanging branch of one of the trees, swaying gently in the breeze.

“I’m going in.” Ren turned back to the door, his decision to enter finalized by the sight of the very same swing from the aged photograph. He tugged at it, but found it locked tight.

“Ren, no!” Hux placed his bags at the bottom of the porch and clambered up. “You can’t just go in! There was a murder here, wasn’t there? Jesus…”

“I have to go in. I have to see more.” Ren shoved himself against the door, trying to pry it open with his weight. The knob was worn and rusted.

“We could get into trouble. And we need to go back soon anyways! It’s going to get dark soon- _REN!!!”_ Hux moved back as Ren reared back and kicked the door in, sending it flying off its weathered hinges. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”

Ren brushed some fine dust from his shoulders and stepped through the threshold. “I’m going into the house.”

Hux looked around, paranoid, before following the other man inside, his voice lowering to a harsh whisper. “Ren, you’re going to get us in serious trouble!”

But Ren wasn’t listening. He was wandering into what looked like the den. There were dust covered sheets resting on the furniture, making the setting ghostly. Ren pulled them off one by one. There was an old, moth eaten leather couch, a side table with numerous water rings staining the wood, and a recliner chair, shabby and patched with what looked like horrible, aged velvet.

_A boy held tightly to the man’s shirt, his tiny hand clasped to the soft fabric as he was cradled. The swaying of the chair lulled him to sleep as he buried his face into that soft, linen shirt. A hand supported his heavy head, brushing through the soft, dark brown curls._

Ren tentatively brushed his hand over the aged arm of the recliner. It rocked gently in place as he left it and wandered down a dark hall. There were two doors; one to the right, and one at the end of the hall. He chanced the closer of the two first. He tried to push it open, but was met with some resistance. Age had warped the door frame. Ren pushed a bit harder and the door opened with a quiet creak.

“Careful, Ren…” Hux’s voice was low behind him. “It’s been a long time since anyone’s been here…”

Ren blinked, trying to see into the room, but thick, dark curtains obscured nearly all the light trying to pass through the window on the opposite side. He carefully stepped through the darkness, groping around blindly while Hux felt along the wall for a light switch.

Ren reached the curtains and drew them back. The room was simply decorated. There was a queen- sized bed that had long since been stripped, a small nightstand on either side, and a dresser in the corner. The wood floor was covered with an aged, musty carpet.

_The man and woman lay facing each other, a space open in between them. The space occupied by the little boy, who’s round, grinning face moved back and forth between them as they spoke to him in turn. They tickled his feet, pinched his cheeks, talked to him in admiring voices, telling him how their future would be, their wishes for him and his life, how very precious he was to them…_

Ren went to the bed and sat. It was soft, softer even than the bed Hux had made for him back at the estate. But this one was vacant. So vacant. He ran his hand over it as well, wondering where the bed linens had gone, wondering if the woman in his vision, whether real or imaginary, had made handmade blankets like the ones strewn about Hux’s estate.

He wanted it. He wanted to imagine this place covered from ceiling to floor in things made by the soft, caring hands that had once caressed the boy’s cheek on this bed…

Hux stood helplessly in the doorway, checking over his shoulder now and then. “….Ren…. Are you alright?”

Ren released a breath that had been unknowingly caught in his throat as he stood. He nodded as he passed Hux, treading carefully as he went into the hallway and moved closer to the closed door at the end of it. A light went on above him, illuminating it and he muttered a thanks to Hux, who’d found the switch. Ren stopped, narrowing his eyes in confusion.

Bright yellow tape was plastered to the door, covered in the same bold word.

“….What is this?” Ren pointed.

Hux peered around Ren’s broad shoulder. He suddenly looked afraid. “We probably shouldn’t go in there.”

Ren peeled a piece of the tape off and inspected it. “Why, is there something dangerous inside?” He held out the tape to Hux. “What is this word?”

“It says “Caution”. It’s a special tape that policemen put up at a crime scene.”

None of this made sense to Ren, and he certainly didn’t care enough for this information to stop him. He tore the rest of it down carelessly and slowly opened the door. The scene made his stomach writhe.

There were deep reddish-brown stains deep in the carpet of the nursery, spattered everywhere as if there was a great amount of thrashing. There were bloody fingerprints smudged all along the otherwise white bars of the crib.

_The crib._

_There was screaming, sobbing. He was left in this dark room. The woman was there, she even looked awake, but her open eyes stared at nothing, the light gone from them. He wailed fearfully. There had been a loud noise that startled him awake, then trembling hands, sticky with the crimson warmth had tried to pull him from the warmth of his crib, staining his pajamas. She whispered things to him, the same promises as before._

_Their future._

_Their wishes._

_He was precious to her._

_“My sweet little Ben… My precious little boy…”_

_But now she was gone. She was here, but didn’t hear his cries, her eyes where open, but didn’t see his little, pawed hands reaching desperately through the darkness of the nursery as he wailed._

_The little wolf boy was alone in his bloodied onesie, his murdered mother having only had the strength to pull him from his crib before she grew still and silent, leaving him sobbing and alone…_

_Alone._

**_“BEN!!!!”_ **

Ren heard it again, clearer than when he’d heard it in Hux’s room. He clambered back from the crib, as if he’d been electrocuted. He had broken out in a cold sweat, his breathing came in labored gasps, and hot tears were streaming freely down his face.

“REN!!!”

He jumped again, thinking it was the woman’s voice, but Hux grabbed his hands in his, his face pale.

“Ren, what is it? Talk to me!” His eyes were wide as he gingerly reached up and tried to brush the tears away with his thumb. “You’re okay, it’s okay, I’m here…”

But it wasn’t. It wasn’t okay. Ren pulled himself away from Hux. It was too hot in here, too small. The room spun around him, the crib and stained carpet distorted and warped like disturbed water, rippling and churning. He could feel another wave of cold sweat chill him to the bone and the sensation of vomit crawling up his throat. Ren hurried down the hall, past the vacant room and empty den, barely making it to the porch, where he leaned over the lattice bannister and vomited into the grass.

Hux hurried out in his wake, wincing at the horrible sounds of Ren retching. He cautiously approached the taller man when the heaving had subsided. Ren was simply doubled over on the bannister, trembling hard. Hux carefully reached out and placed his hand on Ren’s shoulder, feeling him tense at his touch.

“Ren…” Hux’s voice was back to a whisper. “It’s going to be dark soon… Would you like to go back home….?”

There was a horribly long stretch of silence before Ren regained his composure. He stood up, wiping his eye miserable as he stepped off the porch and trudged away from the house, the woman’s pleas still fresh in his ears.

“I have no home.”

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr! 100% Kylux trash. Werewolf-kylo-ren.tumblr.com  
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> (I DO NOT OWN STAR WARS! I AM ONLY A SINNER)


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